


Locker 616

by Ironwingedhawk



Series: 616-Series [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Blood, Bullying, Child Abuse, Danny Whump, Everyone is Poly because Defenders, F/F, F/M, Footballers and Cheerleaders, High School, Homophobia, Horrible Foster Family, M/M, Multi, Past Abuse, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Self-Harm, Sexual Abuse, Stalking, Suicide Attempt, That Poor Fucking Kid, Underage Drinking, everyone is bi, idk - Freeform, is 18 and 16 underage?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2018-12-24 17:38:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 41,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12017754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironwingedhawk/pseuds/Ironwingedhawk
Summary: Defenders High-School AuThere are two things Luke's always been certain about:1. He knows everyone at school well enough, to know what to think of them.2. True love is always love at first sight.He isn't so sure of that now.





	1. A New Year

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for bullying in the whole work.

 

 

The first day of school after vacation was always hard. The thought that Luke was finally a Senior and that this would be his last year at school didn't help much. He would actually miss his friends, especially Misty, Hernan and Claire... Claire. He hadn't seen her since she broke up with him. They had promised each other to remain friends, but to be honest, what good was a promise like that? He would also miss his football team, he was quarterback and actually pretty good. Luke knew that his team looked up to him and that they also relied on him. On the other hand, he was excited to play for college. If he could stay in shape, a stipend was as good as guaranteed.

The down side was that you also you have to get up early at college. Luke sighed and dragged himself out of his bed. He would never get used to this shit. It helped that the sun was already shining through his windows and that he could smell pancakes from the kitchen next door. He loved these mornings, when the whole family could have breakfast together. Not that Dad was away that often but Mom often had to work quite early. Luke slipped into a loose shirt and sweatpants before he joined his mother in the kitchen.

"Good morning,” he yawned.

"God, I hadn't heard you."

Luke smiled, they had lived in this crappy apartment long enough for Luke to know the exact locations of each loose or creaky wooden plank. Otherwise it would be impossible to sneak out and go to parties or on dates. Or just whenever Luke felt as if he was being squashed by the tiny rooms and low ceiling. He hated feeling stuck at a place or somehow being restrained, he loved open and wide spaces, which was probably why he felt so at home on the football field.

"You have any idea how to get to school?” his mother asked as she poured another load of dough in the pan.

"Hernan will pick me up."

"Good."

Luke decided against the plea that was as old as time itself:  _This wouldn't be necessary, if you bought me my own car._ He knew that his family didn't have the money to buy him a car to drive to parties or school, especially since a car wasn't always necessary in New York City.

  
It would still be cool if he could drive out of the city with a date or just take his friends to a road trip for the weekend. But he was reasonable enough to not open up that problem. Talking about money with his parents was always difficult. They used to earn a little better, with his dad being a preacher and all.  But when his grandfather died, they inherited the giant clusterfuck that were his debts. Granddad loved to play. The Cage's had to sell their house, their car and a lot of their belongings. They were debt free now, but they had to start from a scratch. Luke wished that he could take a job to support his family but between the football training and studying, he barely had any time. His father had even told him to focus on that and let him deal with the finances. 

His mom smiled and handed him a plate with a fresh pancake, "Do you think you and Claire will get back together?"

"Moooom,” Luke sighed.

"What? She's a good girl and I like her."

"I know, but it's over. She made that pretty clear. We’ll just stay friends."

"Has that ever worked?"

Luke laughed, "Ugh, I don't think so." 

"See? You're losing her."

"Mom, I won't." He wasn't even lying. Claire was one of the most reasonable people he knew, clever, patient and always there when you needed her. No surprise he had fallen for her in the first place. But eventually it felt as if they have never been meant to be. Luke was sure that he would regret it one day, but he also knew that breaking up had been the right decision for both of them.

  
His mother shrugged and continued making pancakes, probably supposed for his dad.  
Speaking of... "Where's Dad?"

"He's still asleep. Last night he got a call from some girl that wanted to kill herself and he talked with her for hours."

"Oh."

"It ended good."

Luke nodded, the topic was a downer. It was hard to initiate an upbeat conversation right now, so he ate the rest of his breakfast in silence.

  
After that, he helped his mother with the dishes and hurried back towards his room. It was small but he liked it. The wallpaper was a dirty yellow, his bed, desk, wardrobe and shelves a bit old and damaged, but nothing tragic. Luke had tried to personalize his room with posters of football players and bands. He knew some boys who had hot girls on their walls but his parents would kill him and besides, they lived in the age of the internet after all. Luke grabbed some clothes, a simple yellow shirt, blue jeans and his letter jacket would do, and hurried towards the shower.

   
Hernan was driving a run-down black MG; the car had clearly seen better days, but it was still working and that and the fact that it could fit all four of them was enough to the kids.  
Luke smiled at Claire, gave Hernan a fist bump and hugged Misty before he got in. Luke was always the last one to be picked up on their route. It wasn't far until school but he just enjoyed the moments in the car with his friends and besides that, the few minutes he saved, he could sleep longer in the morning.

"Can you believe that we'll be done with school in a year?” Misty celebrated.

"You know, what you want to do after that?” Hernan asked.

"I won't hook up with you,” Claire and Luke giggled, Hernan crushing on Misty was as much of a secret as her dislike for this kind of relationship with her friend, "I want to travel. See the world, Europe, Asia, Africa, all of it."

Claire grinned, "And then still cop?"

"Still cop,” Misty smiled, "Has anything changed for you guys?"

"I still want to become a nurse, I guess. I always wanted to help people, but I don't think I have the money for Med School and to become a Doctor,” Claire shrugged.

Hernan looked at his friends through the mirror, "Man, I feel as if I don't have any ambitions compared to you guys."

"Aw. You want to take over your parent's grocery store, when you're done. Nothing wrong with that, maybe you'll start the next big thing. Who knows?” Luke smiled.

"It's easy being optimistic when you're the next big football star and your path is already set."

"It's not really a good thing and it isn't completely safe already. I can still lose my standing or get injured or something and then... bye bye college."

Misty sighed, "Why are you always so pessimistic?"

"Maybe that's the reason Claire dumped him.” Hernan should be happy that he was the driver or otherwise Luke would have hit him with his elbow. Bastard.

"Shut up,” Claire and Luke answered in unison as Misty and the other boy giggled at the joke.

"I'll miss summer though,” Claire changed the topic, as she rolled down the window and let her arm dangle in the warm air.

There was an agreeing nod by everyone in the car.

"So, when's the first game of the season?” Hernan asked.

"In a few weeks. But I'm sure it's all people at school will talk about until then, so it will be hard to miss."

Misty laughed, "Yeah... yeah... Mr. Perfect. Just don't forget us simple people when you're famous."

"And rich,” Hernan added.

"Speaking of rich...” Claire interrupted the banter, "Do you think the rumors about Rand are true?"

Oh yes, Daniel Rand.

  
Every school has this one kid that draws everyone else to them.

  
Every school has that one weird kid.

  
For Midtown High, Danny Rand was both of these people in one.

  
Popular for his wealth. Some a-holes surrounding him like flies, hoping that he might gift them something. Despite knowing that Danny was everything but excessive. Said friends however loved to talk behind his back, which leads to the weird point.

  
Danny was raised in rural China, home-schooled and everything. Occasionally, he was just odd in ways hard to put in words. Be it jokes that you don't understand or weird philosophy that he shares at random times and occasions. Besides that, he wasn't really emotionally stable all the times. Luke brushed it off as a rich white kid, having been raised without knowing consequences.

  
He was the weirdo impersonated, but Luke was sure that due to the money, he wasn't really aware of it. It wasn’t Luke's business to deal with some white Junior's problems though and it was basically the boy’s own fault if he was being too naive... besides, maybe he was aware of just being used but liked it more than the alternative. 

  
The newest rumor about Danny, however, was something completely different. During vacation, the Rand's family jet crashed and while the official word was that Danny was the sole survivor, somehow persistent rumor has spread that Danny also never made it back from the Himalayas.

   
To be honest, no one at the school would really care. People would pretend to be shocked and in a few days, they would be back to joking about him. 

"I don't know,” Luke sighed.

Hernan shrugged, "Then Ryan and his other shadows would need someone else’s rich ass to kiss and I mean both lit--"

"Shut up. It's not funny,” Claire interrupted although it was obvious that she was doing her best not to laugh.

"Man, I really hope Miss Baker won't be as pissed at life as she'd been last year,” Misty changed the topic.

"I heard she went through a divorce,” Luke shrugged.

Claire rolled her eyes, "Still no reason to let her anger out on us, or our grades. I mean this is  _our_  future."

"Which is why she has no reason to actually care,” Hernan said sarcastically.

"Ugh. You're not wrong,” Misty smiled bitterly, "But I won't take that shit this year."

"Same,” Luke nodded.

"Do you know of any party this weekend?” Hernan asked, "You know... to celebrate the new year at this hellhole."

"I think Daisy's dad is on a business trip this weekend. She invited a bunch of guys."

"Daisy Johnson. She's a Junior."

Luke shrugged, "She's one year younger than us though, there many are Seniors her age... she isn't a baby."

"More like a babe,” Hernan laughed and Luke nodded in agreement until he realized that Claire was staring at him.

They pulled into the parking lot and that old familiar feeling returned. The feeling of belonging and maybe even home. Groups of students were chatting excitedly and freshmen were herded together in small groups, trying hard to cover up their insecurities.  
Luke also spotted a few familiar faces, the emo chick Jessica Jones surprisingly for once without her weird boyfriend Kevin, but instead with her adopted sister, everybody's darling-slash-aspiring actress, Patricia Walker. They were both Seniors, Trish seventeen and Jessica eighteen, like Luke.

  
Jessica didn't even try to hide the roll of her eyes when Squabbles car pulled into the lot. Trish smiled and waved to the four of them. Next to them, another car pulled into the lot and Luke spotted the little awkward nerd Franklin "Foggy" Nelson as well as his shadow, the shy and silent, but nonetheless hot, Karen Page and perfect, blind, Matt Murdock. He was every girl's wet dream. Kind, intelligent and incredibly handsome. All three of them were Seniors now.

  
Luke and the others slammed the doors of the car shut and Luke and Hernan watched Misty and Claire as they greeted some of their friends.

"Hugging as if they haven't seen each other for years. Girls, am I right?” Hernan laughed.

Luke nodded, "Yeah, wonder what will happen if--"

Suddenly a surprised gasp went through the assembled crowd of students in front of Midtown High.

  
The school bus had just arrived, and trying to get inside as fast as possible, was no one else but Danny Rand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with: @Casy_Dee beta awesomeness.


	2. A New Year

The second Rand left the bus, all of the students fell silent. The crowd split as the junior walked up towards the school with fast steps and lowered gaze. Luke looked over to where Ryan and some more of Rand’s friends were standing in a group.

As the boy walked past them he glanced towards the small group, but they avoided direct eye contact. No one dared to move until Danny had vanished in the building, then the whispers started.

 

> "I didn't believe he would show up here."
> 
> "He's gonna be so much weirder now."
> 
> "I don't think that's possible."
> 
> "Have you heard the rumor that he ate his parents?"
> 
> "Woah."
> 
> "Do you think he'll talk about what happened?"
> 
> "Do you want to ask him?"
> 
> "Hell no!"

Luke sighed and turned back towards his friends," Well so much for that."

"What was that with Ryan Carter and the others? Suddenly not so BFF now…” Hernan picked up his backpack.

Misty shrugged, "Dunno... what are your first classes? I have art class."

"Math for me. Ugh,” Claire sighed.

"Same,” Hernan and her exchanged a high five.

"Philosophy,” not Luke's favorite subject but he'd take it. Besides, whatever happened, he had football practice to look forward to.

 

As the students actually moved in the conversations surrounding them quickly changed from Rand to whatever happened during the summer. The topics reached from vacation, sex, parties and drugs to stress at home, boredom and summer school.

Luke had to admit that he would miss this. Because no matter how annoying high school could be some of the stuff the students worried about was no big deal. Luke could know and admit that and still be angry about shit that would be nothing for most adults.

"I think we should leave,” Claire pulled Hernan along by his sleeve, "I don't want to be late and have to sit in the front row."

The boy nodded, "See you guys later."

Misty and Luke waved after them and the moment, they disappeared behind the first corner, Misty turned around to face Luke, "So that went kinda well."

"What?"

"You and Claire."

Luke laughed and tilted his head, "It could have gone way worse, yes."

"Believe me. That was decent."

"I don't know... how you know that?"

"I'm a girl and Claire's my best friend. I can tell when she's... you know, off."

"Hey Luke!” a fellow Senior who's name Luke couldn't really remember interrupted their conversation as he walked by.

Once the boy had disappeared into the masses of students, Misty leaned against the locker next to Luke's and laughed, "Still as popular as always."

 

Luke opened the locker numbered "616" and grabbed one of his books he had left there over vacation, "I play for the team. Of course I'm well known."

"C'mon admit it. Every school has that one kid, every one admires and likes. Who do you think it is for us?"

"Uhhhmmm... Murdock maybe?"

"No. It's you and you can ask anyone here. You inspire people."

Luke let his head fall back against his locker, "I'm not sure if I want that."

"It's not a choice,” Misty looked at the watch at her wrist, "Oh shit, class starts in three minutes, I should go."

"Seriously?"

She started walking backwards and smiled, "Well, it's a new teacher and I don't want to make a bad impression on the first day."

"See ya."

"Yeah,” and with that word she started her jog towards the art rooms.

To Luke's surprise, the philosophy room was almost filled when he arrived. The only place left that wasn't in the first row was that next to Jessica Jones, Midtown High's very own goth chick. Her black hair was now decorated with purple highlights but apart from that, she was still wearing that one pair of jeans, white top and leather jacket. She was weird, but different from Rand, she was hella scary. Rumor had it, that she had beat up Will, a boy who had molested her adopted sister Trish last year. If the word of mouth was true, he had to be hospitalized.

It was hard to believe that such a small girl could be capable of that. Will was a very muscular and strong guy; Luke had to admit, that he was even a bit impressed. He knew that some people were scared of her now, not that Jessica seemed to mind, she had never been much of a warm and open people person. Luke however, was sure enough that he didn't need to fear the girl, unless he threatened or harmed her or her friends... which would just be Patricia.

"You believe that he had to survive two weeks out there?" a small blonde girl in front of them asked her neighbor, "I don't think anyone can survive such terrible conditions that long."

"Especially Rand, who can't even survive life in New York."

"What do you mean?" blonde giggled.

"A friend told me that he was almost run over by a cab half a year ago."

"God. What a fucking idiot."

"I heard he's lost his money,” Jessica whispered all of the sudden. She was too quiet for the girls in front of them to hear it, so Luke figured it must have been meant for him.

"What?"

"Rand,” she leaned back in her chair and there was a bit of a wicked glimmer in her eyes, "His company and money is with the Meachum family. Don't ask me why, but he's at a foster family since last week."

"How do you know that?"

"I know things. Things about everyone,” she grinned, challenging, " and I know people in the Foster system."

 

"Well it would explain why Ryan and the other greedy gold diggers are ignoring him now.” Luke never believed that their friendship had any other reason. "But why the hell are you telling me that?"

Jessica shrugged, "As I said, I have information. And I like people to know that."

"God, you're weird,” Luke whispered as their teacher Ms. Rodriguez walked into the room. Somehow he thought that Jessica didn't really mind.

Although, Luke had to admit, that he wondered what secret Jessica could know about him. He was a fairly open guy. There was no real secret he would hate to come to light.

Luke has always been "meh" on philosophy. It wasn't super interesting, but it also wasn't hard. You have an ethical problem and try to find some ways to solve it. If you get lucky, your teacher likes it, if you don't, you still pass because of the effort you put into the answer. The biggest plus, you don't really need to study. At least not much.

After the obligatory greeting to the new year, Ms. Rodriguez handed the class a bunch of sheets, explaining a philosophical problem.

 

 

> _Buridan's ass:_
> 
> _A hungry donkey is standing between to stacks of hay._
> 
> _The stacks are equally close to the donkey and they are equally tall, besides that, they are the same._
> 
> _Some philosophers claim that the donkey would starve because he has free will and can't decide on either stack._
> 
> _Discuss this paradox with your partner._

 

"For this exercise, I want you to team with the person on your right,” Luke looked over towards Jessica and she shrugged before she rolled her eyes.

She moved her chair over towards Luke, as the rest of the class drowned in the murmur of the other students.

"This is like the most boring context I've heard the word ass in ever."

"I knew you were going to make that kind of joke."

"How do you know me so well?" Jessica said sarcastically.

Luke shrugged, "So back to the topic. What do you think?"

"That's one stupid ass donkey?"

"Pun intended?"

She smiled, "I guess. No, if we would treat this seriously... I think it's bullshit. The donkey wouldn't starve. It wouldn't behave against its instincts."

"It's Philosophy... I don't think that's the way we are supposed to tackle this. I guess it's meant to show that one can struggle so hard with decisions, that we can miss an opportunity?"

"But that doesn't necessarily make sense. Humans are a-holes and greedy on top of that. They wouldn't miss an opportunity to gain something."

 

"We're talking about a donkey though."

"Same,” she whispered barely audible.

"Maybe you would try to find a difference where none really exists. You try to think of possible consequences or decide randomly?"

Jessica shrugged, "To be honest... I don't even know what our exercise is, but you're my partner and we discussed it. The donkey is fucking stupid. Buridan's ass isn't as funny as the name suggests. The only thing that's certain is that no matter what the donkey does, it will regret its choice later. Because that is always the case when you have a choice."

After Philosophy, Luke met with Hernan in the hall. They had Biology class in a few minutes. Luckily, there was more than enough time to bring his Philosophy books to the locker and pick up his Bio stuff.

"I'm just saying that she is pretty hot,” Hernan nudged Luke in the shoulder, "She's emo but hot."

"She might still be with Killgrave, besides she kind of scares me and is weird in a way."

"Speaking of…” Hernan was just loud enough that Luke was sure Danny Rand heard him as he hurried past the hallway, a Chemistry book pressed tight against his chest.

"Hey!” a Junior Luke didn't know shouted and all of the sudden the hallway was silent, "Blondie?!"

Rand stilled and a group of girls close to him shrunk back.

A small but large ginger boy appeared from behind a small group of freshmen, Luke had seen him with a split lip a few times... after schoolyard fight, he assumed.

"What?” Danny whispered tonelessly. His voice was raspy and tired and somehow, it sent shivers down Luke's body.

"You know who my father used to work for?" the ginger growled.

"Rand?"

"Smartass. He was fired yesterday! And you're gonna pay, for what you've done."

Rand buried his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and looked towards the ground, "Look, I'm sorry but my family has nothing to do with this and neither have I…” his voice broke towards the end.

The ginger kid continued walking through the small corridor that had formed where students had shied away from possible involvement.

All of the sudden, the bell ended the break and while a bit of the tension left the situation and some of the students walked towards their classes, the ginger kid and Rand didn't move a muscle. The ginger boy was brave, while Rand was awkward and silent, it was well known among the students of Midown High, that he was a trained fighter and could definitely throw punches.

"C'mon," Hernan pulled Luke by his shirt and he followed.

A few moments after he had turned around, Luke heard something heavy slam against a locker. He turned around and saw the ginger boy viciously beating on Rand.

Luke had interfered in quarrels between kids before and a few times it had ended bad for him, with him being accused by some mothers of beating up their kids, while he was only trying to stop them from bullying.

Still, he couldn't help but turn around and catch a glimpse as Ginger and a few other boys were beating on blond curls.

Someone else would come along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee is an awesome beta <3


	3. Of Lovers and Rivals

 

 

 

Luke was the last to meet his friends in front of the cafeteria.

"Hey!” Misty waved at him and Luke smiled as he joined his friends in the line.

Claire was whispering with Hernan about something that seemed to be related to an article Karen Page had written for the school newspaper last year. Luke didn't bother to ask why this was relevant again. Instead, he turned and studied the menu for the day. It would end up as weird texture less mash anyway, but he still needed to know what he was going to order.

Probably not vegan. Not that he disliked the concept or food in general, he had learned his lessons during past meals in here. Meat and fish was somehow less risky than vegetables.

"What do you eat?" he asked Misty.

"Pork chop,” she shrugged, "I think I had it a few times and it wasn't complete garbage; I mean I'm still alive."

Luke laughed, "I trust you then..."

"I feel honored,” she made a mocking bow.

"Don't steal my girl, Cage,” Hernan suddenly interrupted.

"Did he hold your hand?" Misty spat and Claire busted out laughing loud enough to cause a few curious looks. Luke grinned and gave Misty an appreciative nod.

Hernan shrugged, "One day she'll fall for my irresistible charm."

"Sure," Misty commented dryly before her tone changed to kind and calm as she ordered her meal at the counter.

 

Luke followed his friend's recommendation and went with the pork chop. Claire ordered rice with beans and "vegetables" and Hernan ordered chicken wings.

The group's usual table was located in the middle of the cafeteria, although it was right at the back, so that they had a good overview of the whole room.  The placement of the tables and chairs in the room was a good visualization of one’s social status. Luke and his friends were basically at the best table. Central and therefore popular. There were some tables close to the food counters, these were usually for Sophomores. With that exception, the rule of thumb was that the closer you were to the walls, the less popular you were. Then there was the Poop Place, the silly, yet accurate nickname for the table next to the toilet door. It was usually unoccupied. Sometimes new students would sit there, when they were too shy to join some of their classmates. Apart from that, it was a table for misfits and weirdos.

After hearing about his lost fortune, Luke wasn't even surprised to see Danny Rand there. He leaned over his food, which Luke couldn't wholly identify, his gaze lowered to the ground. Luke shouldn't stare. Yet it was hard to not study the boy as he flinched slightly every time someone walked past him. It had been a day, yet it was hard for Luke to think of Danny Rand the way he had been last year. Luke remembered seeing him at his first day at high school.

Luke had been happy that he wasn't in the youngest grade at school anymore and he had sat in here to watch the new "babies." Danny had always stuck out, with his blond curls and bright blue eyes and a smile that had been shining through the whole room.

The boy now was something else.

"What do you say, Luke?" Hernan asked.

"What?"

"Trish looks good with the blonde hair,” Claire said.

"What, uhhm…” Luke scanned the room and found the usual table of Trish and Jessica, they weren't there, "I haven't seen her yet. But it's Trish, so I'm sure she does."

"You saw her this morning?" Misty tilted her head.

Claire lowered her fork, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... was just lost in thoughts."

"Huh,” Hernan shrugged and started a new conversation with the girls.

Luke used the chance to look over towards the Poop Place. A girl had joined Rand at the table. Asian descent, pretty, with long dark hair she kept tucked behind her ear. She was sitting at the other end of the table and seemed sort of insecure. Luke assumed that she was new to school, since he had never seen her around before. Occasionally, the girl glanced towards Rand, and Luke wondered if she was thinking about starting a conversation. Then the ginger boy walked up behind Danny and knocked his cup with water over, before he smashed his face right into the puddle on the surface of the table. The cafeteria went silent, the girl at Danny's table and Rand got up and fled from the room accompanied by the laughter of some of the students.

"It's getting a bit out of hand isn't it?" Hernan asked.

Claire nodded, "Maybe we should do something."

"Someone else will." Hernan went back to his food and Misty nodded hesitantly.

Claire gave Luke a weird look but didn't say anything.

"So football later?" Hernan looked at Luke after they had eaten in silence for a few moments.

Luke nodded, "Hope we have a decent practice. But man, first training of the school year is always tough."

"Don't you hunks have to practice during break too?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, but not everyone actually listens to that order."

Misty laughed, "Of course you do?"

"Sure."

"Hate to break the sweet talk between you up, but Misty and I have to go to a counselors meeting."

"You're mentoring?" Claire asked.

"Yep. Looks good on the résumé”

"And helps confused kids,” Misty added.

"That too."

The two got up and Luke and Claire looked after them as they vanished through the door.

"Sooo…” Luke started, "How was class?"

Claire sighed and tilted her head, "Okay. Yours?"

"Okay."

"Cool."

"And, what's next for you?" Luke smiled.

"Luke…” Claire's gaze lingered on the table, "This isn't working. You see it too, right?"

"No! We were fine a few minutes ago."

 

"Yeah. With Hernan and Misty. I think that we work well enough in a group. But I don't think we can be together without others around us. I mean this is awkward, Luke. And you can't possibly tell me that you think otherwise. I wish it was different, but it seems as if this is the price we have to pay."

"So we can't be friends now?" Luke asked.

"We are. But we're just friends, who hang together in a group only,” she squeezed his hand and got up from the table, "See you."

Luke sighed and leaned back against his chair. This wasn't shaping up to be good day.

 

* * *

 

 

 "You're late,” Coach Pop remarked and Luke had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Yes. He was one minute too late and yes being the quarterback meant that he had to be a good example, but this shouldn't be an actual issue. Not when he was otherwise reliable and everything.

"Sorry. Got held up."

Pop nodded and waved for Luke and the others to come closer and form a circle around him.

The coach pulled out a clip board and started his annual welcome speech, "As every year, I'm going to make this here quick. We are here to win, have fun and more importantly to help you in having a future. A lot of you rely on this and the excellent reputation our Midtown Dragons have. Some of you are new and some of you have been with us for years, we'll see how much talent we gained this year. For the first practice today, we'll see what happened to your stamina over the vacation. I want every one of you except for Cage and Stryker, to run a few laps around the field. I'll tell you when to stop."

There were some moans, but the Dragons were loyal to their coach and followed his order immediately.

Pop watched the boys as they started before he turned towards Luke and Willis.

Willis Stryker was nineteen already, and he had always looked at Luke with hate filled eyes. Luke had stopped to try to figure out why exactly he disliked him. Yes, he was his back up as a quarterback but the fierce hatred behind his eyes whenever the other boy looked at Luke had always been there.

"So, I wanted to do something new for this year. Luke, you're being watched by scouts, but nonetheless, I want you to prove yourself. I want both of you to work out tactics we can study with the team. You don't need to worry too much, I'll check them and see which of these we can actually use in training or in game. I just think that it's very important for you to get to know our sport beyond the field. To get a better feeling for what it means to read a game and react appropriately."

Luke nodded and saw Willis again staring daggers at him. He had basically no chance to be seen by scouts being the back up and he knew that. Luke offered him a kind smile and pretended that he couldn't see the dislike in the other boy's eyes, before he took an empty clip board from Pop.

"I want you to work out the tactics in my office, if that's okay with you boys?"

Both of them nodded in unison before they left for the tiny room next to the gym.

 

"Do you have any idea?" Luke started.

"I don't know, college star, tell me."

Two could play that game, if Willis wanted to make this hard and refuse to work, Luke wouldn't try to help him. His choice, his bad.

"I mean, it's hard. This game is so old and we should invent new tactics,” he ignored the other boys remark and smirked, as he stayed silent, “I think we should make use of Tray's speed. The kid isn't the best when it comes to catching but he can pull some of the defense away from the actual receiver. Of course, this would only work a few times."

Willis was still saying nothing.

"Until they realize their mistake,” Luke continued.

Nothing.

 "Look. I know that you don't want to work with me. I get it. But disappointing Pop won't help either of us."

Willis sighed, "It wouldn't make a difference for me. I won't get a scholarship anyway. But for you something is at stake."

"And how would you benefit if I fail?"

Willis grinned, "You know how."

"You hate me and you just want to see me fail, but I don't need your help with this shit. But I can tell you that I won't cover your ass. I will tell the coach that whatever I draw and write down is my idea. And I know Pop and so do you, he loves team work and he can kick you out of the team for stuff like this. And I don't think you want that."

The other boy reached for the pen and rolled his eyes, before he read Luke's suggestion for a tactic.

 

Back home, Luke slammed his backpack on the table. The rest of the training had gone well and he was hella tired. He hated that feeling after the first day at school. Luke felt tired from the lack of sleep and exhausted from the stress of the day. It would get better eventually. There would be parties, flirts and fun this year too. This was just a slightly rough start.

Luke grabbed some of his school books he'd taken home and placed them on his desk. He should study sometime this week. Every year he had promised himself that he would study early enough from day one instead of starting just before the test. Every year that plan failed.

There was still a picture of Claire on his desk. Luke gently tilted it so that it was laying down on the surface face down. He needed a few days.

Just when that sad feeling started to return, Luke's phone rang. Distraction, thank god.

"Hi."

"Hey,” Hernan.

"What's up?" Luke greeted.

"I heard about a party this weekend, at Daisy Johnson's house."

"That's pretty early in the year."

Hernan laughed, "It's a school start party. Mr. Coulson's on a business trip, so Daisy has the house to herself."

"Since when are you so close with her?"

"I was invited by a friend, who was invited."

Luke grinned, "And now you're inviting me?"

"Yeah. Misty and Claire will come along too. Please, it will be fun."

"I'll see how I feel that day and how likely it is for my parents to bust me."

"Thanks man, see ya tomorrow."

"See ya."

Luke sighed as he hung up. This was it, school. He had missed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee :)


	4. Blood and Blades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for attempted suicide and Homophobia. As you can see, a nice lil' chapter.

 

 

_Two months later:_

It was a rainy fall day, right before an important game, when Luke's life changed fundamentally. It wasn't due to the game itself, which was what he would have expected. Neither was the change his scheduled date with Harmony, a girl from his math class. The change was rooted in tragedy and tragedy alone. Despite that, the day started oddly normal with Biology with Mr. Pym and the lunch break after it.

"You excited for the evening?” Hernan asked, smiling at Luke before he winked, "I bet you are."

"Not so much to be honest. Thinking about it, it might not be a good sign.” Luke shrugged and ate a piece of the "meat."

Sadly, it was only him and Hernan today, Misty was sick at home and Claire was on a field trip to some historic landmark.

"I mean, she's hot."

"I know she's also nice but...” Luke made a vague gesture towards his head, before he lowered his voice and whispered, "She's not the brightest."

Hernan shrugged, "We're in High School; we're not searching for a soulmate here. It's just dating and maybe sex."

"Maybe."

"You're too spoiled by Claire. She's both, hot and smart."

"And a saint."

"Man, you threw away the jackpot, didn't you?"

Luke sighed, "Well, maybe... but it didn't work."

"Bummer."

"No shit. why are you still here? I thought you could go home earlier. Isn't Ms. May sick?"

"There was a rumor, but apparently Ms. May has never been sick ever... so no."

"Man, I can't wait for practice today to be over."

Hernan laughed, "Seriously? I thought you loved it."

"I do, but it's the last one before the game against the Brooklyn Hands and we are so careful to not overdo it, that we end up doing basically nothing. It's a complete waste of time and I wish I would've gone home early today."

"You still can."

"I'm the team captain. Besides, my parents are home, so, not happening."

"The Pros of having shitty ones,” the other boy said bitterly.

"Don't say stuff like that."

"It's the truth though."

Luke sighed and went back to pay attention to his meal. Some fights were just not worth it.

"Will you be there this weekend? For the game, I mean."

"I don't know."

"Misty will be there."

"Oh.” Hernan smiled, "Well maybe."

Luke laughed, "I knew that would work."

Suddenly a loud shattering noise caused the whole cafeteria to turn their heads. Danny Rand was lying on the ground in front of the counter. His tablet with a plate and something to drink was on the ground next to him, partially shattered. Next to the boy, the ginger kid and a few friends laughed their asses off. You didn't need to be a genius to put one and one together. There was some giggling coming from other tables, but apart from that the hall was quiet, at least until Rand got up from the ground, cleared the food remains from his shirt, and left the hall in a hurry.

  
On his way out the blond’s eyes met Luke's and something caused a shiver to run down his spine. There was something terrifying he couldn't really identify.  
The moment the door fell shut behind the boy, some of the students who’d held back their laughter earlier busted out and within seconds, the usual cafeteria chatter was back.

"Figures.” Hernan laughed.

"What do you mean. I just wanted to talk about that rumor with Ra--"

"Could we just stop with this shit?” the more Hernan made fun of Danny, the harder it got for Luke to not point out the irony in a guy who always wore sunglasses calling another kid weird.

"Would it matter if  _we_  stop? Because as far as I can tell, we're not the issue here. We just talk."

Luke sighed.

"Anyway.” Hernan continued excitedly, " There's a rumor, that Rand had something with a guy back in China."

"And?"

"Would confirm theories and would sort of suit him wouldn't it?"

"And?” Luke shrugged.

"Just thought I should share."

Could this damn lunch break be over already?

"Things still seem awkward between you and Claire.” He had to be doing this on purpose. There was no way he wasn't purposely trying to upset Luke.

"Yeah, no shit."

Hernan laughed, "Look man, I just wanted to say, if we have to choose one day, I'll always be on your side."

"You know Misty'll be with Claire, right?"

"Yeah."

"I feel honored then.” Luke grinned over his annoyance.

Hernan nodded, " I need a favor though..."

"I won't try to set you up with--"

"That's not what I mean. There's a friend of mine, arriving at the airport tomorrow at noon. I know you don't have much to do Saturdays, so I hoped that you could pick him up."

"You're the one with the car."

"I know, I know. But I... I have somewhere to be. And I just hoped, that you could company him, when he takes the bus. It's his first time in the city and that would make it a lot easier."

Luke sighed, "Okay. Just send me the flight number and I'll be there. He wasn't gonna ask since when they kept secrets from each other, although he wondered why Hernan hadn't told him where he had to be this Saturday.

"Thanks man."

"No problem man. Look, I have to go. Practice starts a little earlier today.” Luke sighed and hoped that Hernan wouldn't notice that some of the other football players were still in the cafeteria. Or at least, that he wouldn't notice that until Luke was out of reach. He had known Hernan ever since they were children and he had met him as a nice guy. But he'd be lying if he didn’t admit that he had changed. And from year to year, Luke felt as if it was for the worse. On the other hand, he was his best friend and he felt like a traitor for thinking that way. But, it was how he felt, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't change that.

Luke wasn't a saint either, but he still couldn't help but judge his friend for his attitude.

The halls were quite empty right now. Most people were at the cafeteria, in class rooms or already home. Besides that, Misty wasn't the only one at Midtown High who was sick. The school had been hit heavy by a large flu outbreak. Luke wasn't completely sure what to do next. The gym was most likely locked and he didn't want to wait in the halls so Hernan could see him once he came from the cafeteria. Maybe he could go outside, despite the cold, and wait for the gym to be opened. On his way, he could go to the toilet and could secretly check his phone.

Turning around towards the cafeteria to check for any signs of his friend, Luke opened the toilet door. Surprisingly, he noticed the smell before he turned his head. Not that his brain had realized what had happened in here, but the metallic, copper smell was uncanny. Blood.  
And then his eyes registered the source of the scent, right in front of the sinks, Danny Rand was lying on the tiles in a large puddle of blood.

"Shit!” Luke sprinted towards the kid and fell down on his knees.

"Danny!” he first searched the boy's head for the source of the blood, while he tried to find his pulse. Maybe he'd slipped and hurt himself. But instead, his fingers found deep cuts at Danny's wrists. Luke looked around and saw a bloody razor blade on the sink. Danny had tried to kill himself. It couldn't have happened long ago. There was a lot of blood, but hopefully not too much. Luke sipped out of his jacket and tried to staunch the bleeding, keeping constant pressure on the wound. That had the negative effect that Luke couldn't reach his phone in his backpack, but he needed to call an ambulance.

"Help!” he screamed as loud as his lungs allowed.

"Help me!"

"I need help!"

A young boy opened the door curiously and turned green at the sight, then he turned away and screamed "Come here!"

A group of students hurried towards the bathroom but all of them froze in the door. 

"Call an ambulance!” Luke screamed. Why were some kids so dense and slow?

One of the girls pulled her phone out of her pocket.

_Thank god._

Luke took a few moments to realize that the girl was filming the scene instead of calling for help.

"What the fucking hell are you doing?! This isn't a fucking joke. Stop this shit!"

More and more kids appeared, and more and more took pictures or videos.

After what felt like hours, but probably wasn't more than a minute or two, and enough curses to fill Pop's swear jar twice, a girl pushed past the crowd. It was the girl who sat with Rand at the first day of school. She had moved to another table a week later. But that didn't matter, what mattered was that she pushed past the other dumb idiots, pulled out her phone and actually held it to her ear.

"Hello, we need an ambulance at Midtown High. As soon as possible."

She rolled her eyes, while her hands moved to help Luke and keep additional pressure on the wound, " Colleen Wing, but that doesn't matter."

"A boy slit his wrists.”

"Yes Midtown High. The bathroom between... someone will bring you here.” She put her phone away and grabbed one of the filming kids by the hem of his shirt.

"Listen here you little shit. You go out of there and get the EMTs in here ASAP and maybe I won't use this damn blade over here to cut  _your_  fucking wrists.” She had turned from cute to fucking terrifying in the matter of seconds. The kid nodded and ran away faster than Luke had seen some of his team mates run during an important game.

Colleen hurried back towards Luke and looked at him, “Can you keep the pressure? I'll check his pulse."

Luke nodded, "I'm strong, and the EMTs can't take that long; the next hospital's right around the corner."

"I've seen that you're strong.” she replied and offered Luke her jacket to exchange it for Luke's soaked one. 

He took the offer, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, I mean it's common sense. She glanced towards the other kids, showed them the finger and whispered, "At least I thought so. Besides if anyone has to thank me, it's him."

She used her free hand to wipe away a blond curl and left a bloody red mark on Danny's forehead, "We all have his blood on our hands. Literally. I should've done something. But somehow, I thought that since I wasn't actually bullying him, it wasn't on me to do something. And secretly, I was happy that I wasn't the odd one out for being the new kid and living at an orphanage."

Luke nodded, "I get that. It's the same with me."

He should have done something after the thing with Rand's parents happened. Luke had often seen the kid in the cafeteria with red and wet eyes. He had seen him being bullied often enough. And he had seen him lonely often enough. He could and should have done more than not talk behind his back. He had used that to make himself feel good about himself, without needing to bring up the courage to actually help. Pathetic.

Luckily the EMTs arrived quickly as hell, luckily the crowd moved to let them through instead of blocking the way. From that moment on, time seemed to pass in slow motion.

The medics set up some equipment and shoved Luke and Colleen aside. They said something, but Luke didn't really hear what.

The two stopped the bleeding and just when they wanted to put Danny on an ambulance, one of them screamed something and then the other one pulled out the defibrillator.

_No._

Danny's body jumped, as the electricity shot through him.

A second try. The body jumped.

The medics relaxed, and left the bathroom with the kid. Colleen walked by their side, she shouted something at Luke.

And then... all of the sudden... everything was over and Luke was left in a bathroom that looked like a battlefield, in the middle of blood and medical equipment.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee is the best.


	5. Two Teddybears

Luke had talked to Pop and he had allowed him to skip practice. The rest of the day went by at an awkward pace. Luke was about to go home when he realized that he was still wearing blood-soaked clothes. He changed to his jersey and threw his clothes in the trash can. Not that he could actually afford that, but he was sure that he would never want to wear these again. His clothes were disgusting, not because of the blood but because of the guilt. 

  
After he arrived home, Luke took a shower to wash the rest of the blood and shame away and went to bed early. He didn't sleep much that night. Not that he wasn't tired, but he couldn't stop thinking about Danny.

He wondered if he could have prevented what happened.

_Maybe._

Or if he even made it to the hospital.

_Maybe._

When Luke finally fell asleep, his dream was colored in red. There was a copper smell and blood stained blond curls.

When Luke woke up he had already made up his mind. He would drive to the hospital. It was early and his mother was still asleep, but his father already at work. Luke left a note saying that he was at Misty's and left the house. He assumed that Danny was at the closest hospital to the school, which was only a few minutes away from the Cage's apartment. On his way, he stopped at a toy shop and bought a Teddy bear that held a heart with the words ‘get well soon’ on it. He had considered flowers for a moment, but that would have been kinda weird. 

In the hospital, a young brunette nurse was sitting behind the counter.

"Excuse me,” Luke smiled, "Is a Danny-- Daniel Rand a patient here?"

"Let me look,” the woman started typing on her computer," Yes. Room 470."

"Can I... see him?"

The nurse looked up from her desktop, "Visiting times start in an hour; I'm sorry."

"I can wait,” Luke couldn’t help but smile, the fact that he could see Danny later meant that he had survived and was already awake.

"Then yes."

"Thank you,” Luke smiled and searched for a place to sit.

The hour he had to wait for the visiting times, Luke spent on his phone. He texted with Misty and Claire. Misty was bored, since she was still sick. She had kept asking Luke about what happened at school, and of course he had to tell her about what happened at the men's room yesterday. She was oddly fascinated by stuff like that, although she had expressed her concern for the boy. Claire had told Luke about her field trip and about her plans for the weekend. Luke considered that a major win, since they hadn't talked much these last few weeks. Of course Luke had told her about what happened and she had yet to reply. 

  
After texting, Luke opened his notes and looked at the tactics for the game tomorrow and the information about the opposing team and some of their players. In their normal form, the team should be able to take them, but, you never knew. High schoolers were complicated and a lot of their play and especially their team work depended on the mood.  
After a while, Luke started to count the minutes, until he could see Danny. In a way, he was also afraid of the conversation, but he just wanted to make good for his failures. 

The second the clock was showing him that an hour had passed since his arrival, he got up from his seat, walked past the nurse with a kind smile, and got into the elevator. 

Danny's room was on the fourth floor at the end of the corridor. It was actually meant to be occupied by two patients, but the second bed was empty. The sun was shining into the room, giving it a surprisingly warm feeling despite the complete absence of color. The kid was asleep when Luke walked in. A small white teddy bear in his arms and suddenly, he looked as young as when Luke first saw him.

There was a difference however.

He looked like shit. Danny was pale, Luke wasn't sure if it was the light, the loss of blood or if he had looked this way for a longer time. There were dark rings under his eyes and his formerly golden curls looked damp. Luke also remembered that Danny used to be kinda athletic, he looked a lot thinner now. 

"Why are you here?” Luke flinched, as he realized, that he had been staring.

"I... Uhm... I wanted to see if you're okay."

"Huh,” that was a nice way of saying,  _'Why do you care?'_

"I don't know if someone told you, but I'm the one who kept you alive.” Did that sound like bragging?

He tilted his head, before he nodded, "Colleen told me."

"She's been here?"

"Yesterday evening,” he nodded towards the teddy bear, "This is from her."

"Yeah, I brought you one too,” Luke grinned sheepishly.

"Thanks,” only now Luke realized that Danny hadn't thanked him for saving his life yesterday. During the awkward silence, Luke's gaze wandered towards Danny's wrist. Instead of the scars, he saw something else. "They tied you up?"

"They think I'll try to kill myself again."

" _They_  think so. What about  _you_?” Luke asked softly.

Danny shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe."

"I'm sorry to hear that.” What should he respond to something like this?

"It's... it's nothing you should be sorry for. Not your business, not your fault."

"We both know that's not the case here."

Danny grinned, "Didn't want to say it. But yeah."

"I'm sorry for that too. For doing nothing."

"Maybe it's better that way. I can take care of myself."

_I think you've proven the opposite of that yesterday._

As if he could read his mind, the boy looked up at Luke, "There's a difference between not wanting to win a fight and losing it because you're not strong enough."

"Why didn't you want to win?"

"It's not... there was no fight. A fight requires a prize."

"There has to be something worth fighting for, if not your friends, then maybe your fam--" Luke regretted the sentence as soon as it left his mouth.

Sadly, Luke hadn't overestimated the power of half a word. Danny looked towards the window and blinked some tears away, before they could actually form, "You know. Why would you--"

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. But you have to stay somewhere, right? What about these people? I bet they care."

"My foster family doesn't give a shit about me. I bet they just adopted me because they hoped I'd eventually get the money back and be thankful for them."

"I bet that's not true, maybe you're just telling yourself that."

Danny shook his head, "They haven't even visited me yet."

"Oh. Maybe, they don't have the time."

"No."

"I'm sorry,” Luke was aware that these words were slowly loosing gravitas.

"You can go now, you know?"

"What?"

"You cleared your conscience. You don’t have to pretend that you actually care how I feel. I bet you have some football match or practice to be at... or friends. If I'll do it again, you know that you did your best."

"That's bullshit. Do I feel bad for not doing anything when you were getting bullied by the whole school? Yes. Is that the reason I'm here? No. I don't want to hold you as you're slowly bleeding out another time. And most importantly, I don't want you or anyone to ever be that desperate again."

Danny blinked in confusion, "I'm sorry you had to do this. Maybe I should have done it somewhere else."

"No. Because maybe then no one could have found you in time."

The other boy opened his mouth but closed it without saying a word.

"Why did you do it there? At school?"

"I thought that maybe that way... that they would learn, you know? And that I could prevent them from doing shit like that ever again. And..” he laughed.

"And what?"

"My foster family has a dog. She's pretty cool and... I didn't want her to see. So  _'home'_  was no option,” Danny made little quotation marks in the air.

Luke smiled kindly. He wasn't sure if that way of thinking was really cute or really sad, "Then try to hang on for her."

Danny nodded, "I always envied you. "

"Really?"

"Sort of,” he seemed kinda embarrassed of that statement now, "Yeah, I mean you are popular... friends,” he shrugged.

"It's not that you never had friends."

"Oh, come on. They left me as soon as I lost my money. I always had a hunch that they were just using me. But I guess it was easier to tell myself it wasn't the case."

"I…” Luke sighed, he sounded like a broken record, "I'm sorry."

"Not for that. These guys are idiots and I don't need them if they don't actually care about me."

"You deserve better."

"How do you know?” Danny tilted his head.

"Because, no one deserves  _friends_  like that."

Danny smiled warmly.

"When can you come back to school?"

"Hopefully, it will take a while."

Luke gave him  _the_  look, which was also a good way to scold young teammates.

"Maybe in one to two weeks...More likely one."

"That's good to hear."

"Eh."

Luke laughed, "C'mon man."

"Not only will I be the weird kid. I'll be the weird kid that slit his own wrists in the school bathroom."

"Well... I can only speak for myself, but I don't think you have to eat on your own. And something…” Luke pointed at Colleen's teddy bear, "tells me that I'm not the only one."

For the second time within a few minutes, Danny Rand smiled sincerely.

"Just please, don't let them win again,” Luke pointed at his own wrist, "And if you think that fighting for yourself and your dog isn't enough, you're also fighting for me and Colleen now."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Walking back home from the hospital after the talk with Danny felt like a giant relief.  Not just because Luke had cleared his conscience, but also because the talk with Danny had actually been fun, which was an odd choice of words, considering the heavy topics of their conversation. 

  
Sadly, Luke's good mood only lasted until he checked his phone. Hernan was mad at him. He'd missed to picking up his friend. Luke made the promise shortly before the whole thing with Danny happened, and that had been all Luke could think about. He should have called and told him, that he had stuff to do, but he simply forgot. 

  
He should try to explain it...

  
Bracing himself for a bit of a hard conversation, Luke hit the call button.

"Hey, man."

"Luke, What the fuck?"

"Look, I had a bit of a--"

"Why didn't you pick up Paul?"

Luke sighed, " You know what happened yesterday with Danny?"

"What does this have to do with you picking up my friend?"

"Just yesterday, I was covered in gallons of blood, so excuse me for being a bit upset at the moment."

"So you forgot?"

Maybe, he should be honest, "I had different priorities. And it somehow messed me up, and yeah... I forgot."

"Priorities?"

"I was at the hospital today, visiting Danny."

" _Danny,”_ something about the way, Hernan said his name, made Luke's blood boil.

"Yeah, Danny."

"So you went to him instead of picking up Paul?” the judgement was impossible to overhear.

Luke's knuckles turned white from how hard he was holding the phone, "He tried to kill himself yesterday, Hernan."

"And you saved him, you owe him nothing."

"I do. And so do you."

"Maybe he should've bleed out so that you couldn't have played the big hero."

Through the rage, Luke remembered what he had told Danny:  _You deserve better._  "Fuck you!"

Hernan laughed, "Like you fuck Rand?"

"I can't believe I was ever friends with you,” Luke hung up immediately.

Somehow, he felt free now. Either he or Hernan had changed, maybe even both of them. Fact was that Luke and Hernan just couldn't really remain friends. It would be a bad thing for both of them. In a way, neither of them could really profit from the friendship in any way. Hanging together wasn't anything that was really fun. It would just be hard to deal with Misty and Claire if they weren't friends anymore.

Luke was almost home, when he had an idea. He made a U-turn and walked a few blocks, before he reached a small store that sold school supplies. He bought a little pocket calendar and a bunch of different stickers, then he headed home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee.


	6. The First Sticker

 

 

The new week started almost as if nothing had happened. Teachers gathered all of the students in the gym and talked about the consequences of bullying. They talked about the damage it did for the victims, the trouble bullies would get in at school and all of that. Yet the ginger boy was still there when Danny Rand came back to school a week and a half after his attempted suicide. Luke had been through somewhat of a hard few days too. He had ignored Hernan, talked to Misty and Claire but without the other boy it was weird... especially with Claire. Luke had visited Danny a few times, but not as much as Colleen had. 

He had to smile at that and how she was walking next to Danny when he stepped out of the bus. Again, the crowd of students parted, this time everyone was silent though. Everyone except for a small group of boys, including the fucking horrible ginger kid.

"Imagine being too stupid to kill yourself."

Luke ignored the boy; he wasn't worth his attention anyway. Instead, he signaled Claire and Misty his good bye and hurried towards Danny and Colleen.

"Hey, you two,” he gently pressed Danny's shoulder. He was slightly shocked when he flinched.

"Hey,” Colleen greeted and Danny could at least manage a smile into Luke's direction. He wondered what they went through in the school bus. He should ask Colleen later.

For now, Luke focused his attention on walking exactly besides Danny, so that he and Colleen were shielding him from the students.

Never before had Luke seen the kids on the hallway part this quickly to let them though.

Colleen froze in her tracks, squeezed Danny's hand slightly, then nodded into Luke's direction and vanished behind a classroom door.

"What was that about?” Luke asked.

"She has a Spanish test. When she was at the hospital I helped her study. I know some stuff from... before this school."

"Hmm... bet she's cute speaking Spanish,” Luke grinned and the blush on Danny's cheeks was enough to confirm his suspicion.

"Maybe."

Luke grinned, "Aww. Come on. What happened? Are you two a thing?"

"I don't know."

"Well whatever it is, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks.” Danny’s uplifted mood was somehow heartwarming.

"So, where do you have to go? Should I bring you?"

"I... the principal wanted to see me," Danny said.

"Oh. I'll come with you."

"Don't you have classes?"

Luke made a dismissive gesture, "Screw that."

Danny smiled, "Thank you." 

"Oh. Before I forget it. There's something I want to show you,” Luke looked around the crowded hallway, "but maybe not here."

Finding a place to be alone at a big high school like this was hard. They could find somewhere after class started, but then the principal would be expecting them. Usually the bathrooms were a good bet but that wasn't an option with Danny so soon after... Luke settled for a quiet corner of a hallway that was never really crowded. He pulled Danny a little closer before he shrugged off his backpack, "I bought you something,” he handed him the calendar he bought a few weeks ago.

"Uhm... thanks."

"That's not…” Luke sighed before he pointed at Danny's wrists, "Uhm...may I?"

"Y...eah."

Luke gently took hold of Danny's arms and slid his long sleeved green shirt up his arms. Back at the bathroom when he held the boy in his arms as he bled and bled and bled, he had spotted scars on the other arm. He was sure that they were actually on both of them and that therefore, Danny had started with this a long time ago.

"This is... uhm,” Danny whispered.

"I know. That's why I bought you this. For every day you don't hurt yourself, you get a sticker on your calendar."

Danny laughed, " I'm not a kid."

"It's just... imagine it as a fight, as something to make your progress visible. You can just say no. But if I see correctly,” Luke looked at his other arm, the cut from the suicide attempt clearly visible as well as one fresher smaller scar that had to be a few days old, "you haven't cut yourself yesterday.” Luke placed one of the stickers, a small ladybug, on today's page in the calendar.

Danny tilted his head as he slowly brushed his finger over the little insect, " I think I want to give it a try. Thank you."

"Oh wow!" Luke turned around and looked straight at the ginger boy.  _Shit._

He and three friends were staring at them and only now, Luke realized that he was still holding Danny's wrist. He gently let his arm down.

"Hope we didn't interrupt anything."

"Shut up, Chris!" Luke was surprised at the venom in Danny's voice.

"Oh, wow. Haven't heard that voice in weeks. Seems like Cage is making good use of that mouth of yours."

"Shut the hell up,” this time it was Luke losing his cool, as he stepped in front of the younger kid.

Christopher walked up towards Luke, but before Luke could shove him away, Danny had jumped out from behind Luke's body and punched the ginger boy in the jaw. There was enough force behind it to send him flying a few feet and draw blood.

Danny made a few hesitant steps backwards, seemingly shocked by his own loss of control. The boys around Christopher were slowly shuffling away from the other two boys as their leader got up from the ground.

Hatred sparking in his dark eyes, blood staining his teeth, "Oh, you're so screwed."

"What is going on here?” Miss Hill's strict voice echoed through the corridor.

Luke almost jumped backwards out of surprise.

"Christopher was insulting Luke and me,” Danny answered. 

Luke wasn't sure if Danny was aware, but of course Ms. Hill wouldn't be able to ignore that literally on the first day after his attempted suicide at the school. Midtown High was very proud of their good reputation and what happened in the bathroom weeks ago was enough of a dent in that facade.

"Mr. Karlson, come with me please. Mr. Rand, Mr. Fury is expecting you and Mr. Cage, you should be at class."

"I'm going with Danny,” Luke gently placed an arm on the smaller boy's shoulder. Danny nodded and smiled kindly.

"Okay,” Miss Hill grabbed Christopher by his arm and pulled him away

"Fucking teacher's pet,” Christopher muttered under his breath, before he followed.

Luke was sure that this wasn't over, that he would have to protect Danny from that idiot.

Principal Fury's office was located right next to the school's entrance. Since the door wasn't open yet, Luke and Danny sat down next to it on a bench and waited.

"So... what the hell was that?” Luke asked.

"What?"

"That punch. Where the hell did that come from."

"Back at the hospital, I told you that I can fight for myself."

"I didn't think you were meaning that literally."

Danny smiled, "Well I did."

Luke laughed and gave the other boy a gentle slap on his back, "Why didn't you do that earlier?"

"I never wanted to. My parents didn't survive the crash but I did and that's not fair."

"You think you deserve the punishment? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe I did. I don't know if I would have sat somewhere else on the plane, maybe my parents would have sat where I was and... made it."

Luke sighed. Survivor's guilt. He wasn't a therapist and arguing here would probably do nothing.

"Do you... see someone."

He blushed, "No, I don't, I mean, I don't know what Colleen and I are, maybe ju-"

"A therapist."

"Oh,” he blushed slightly," Yes, I... uhm have to."

This brought something else to Luke's mind, "Are you still with the same foster family as... before... you know."

"Yeah. CPS visited them and me, asked questions...stuff like that."

"You didn't tell them that they don't give a shit about you?"

Danny sighed, "No."

"Why? And don't tell me it's because you don't want to leave the dog."

The other boy smiled, "Maybe it's been my mistake. Maybe I wasn't nice and so they weren't nice to me."

Not that shit again, "Danny, look--"

Luke stopped as the door opened and Principal Fury stepped out, "Mr. Rand... Mr. Cage?"

"He wanted to come with me,” Danny explained.

"I'm sorry, but this is a talk we need to have between the two of us."

"It's okay, I want him here."

Mr. Fury raised a brow, a gesture which basically said, _"Are you dumb or just not listening?"_

Danny seemed to get it and looked at Luke before he followed Fury to his office. Luke kept his best encouraging smile until the door fell shut.

 

* * *

 

 

 After the angry speech of his teacher about how important Philosophy was and how you shouldn't miss it, Luke sat down on his seat next to Jessica.

"Hi,” she had become surprisingly kind towards him in these last few months. 

"Hey,” Luke whispered back hoping that it would go unheard towards their teacher.

"Congrats on your new best friend."

"He isn't--"

"I was being serious,” she laughed.

"You? Of all people?"

"I may be an asshole, but I don't bully people. And I insult them only if I know they can take it. Or if they had it coming."

Luke grinned, "Okay, Robin Hood."

"Do you have time this weekend? Trish is throwing a party and I'm sure she wouldn't mind you coming."

There was a certain giddy feeling spreading across Luke's chest. He had to admit that he maybe had a little crush on Jessica and while this wasn't a date, he wouldn't mind some fun and distraction from the stressful last days.

"That would be nice, thanks"

"Cool."

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the class went by fairly quickly, Luke said his goodbye to Jess and hurried towards the cafeteria. Hernan was sitting at a new table, still ignoring Luke. He couldn't see Claire or Misty anywhere.

"Hey,” someone standing in the line behind him tapped on Luke's shoulder.

Colleen.

"Hi. How was Spanish?"

"Okay, I guess. Did Danny tell you?” she smiled fondly.

"Yeah.

"He likes to overshare doesn't he?"

"I wouldn't call it that."

She shrugged, "Well, I had that feeling."

"Maybe he just does so with you."

She blushed a little and luckily for her, it was Luke's turn to order his food at the counter. He waited for Colleen to follow before he looked around in the hall, "Do you want to sit with me?"

"What about your friends?"

"They're not here, I have to text them and besides, why should it matter? As long as your friends are okay with it."

"I wouldn't call them friends,” Colleen shrugged, "Just people I tend to sit with."

"Well, good then,” Luke smiled and walked towards a table that wasn't at the center but also not directly next to the wall.

For a few minutes, they ate in silence, then Luke sighed and finally started a conversation, "So... what is it with you and Danny?"

Colleen almost choked on her salad, "What do you mean?"

"Are you... like together?"

"No!"

"Just because you spent a lot of time together in the hospital. It was a very difficult thing for him and besides, being with someone at a hospital, it's somehow intimate, I guess."

"That's all? I mean it's not like I was giving birth to our child or something."

Luke laughed, "It's also… he talks of you very... fondly."

"Oh."

Speaking of, at the end of the line a few groups of students stepped aside and Luke spotted long blond curls.

He waved to invite Danny to his table. He shouldn't have to sit alone anymore.

The smile that spread across his face as he spotted Luke and Colleen was absolutely priceless.

"Hey, there,” Colleen smiled and Luke noticed her tugging her hair behind her ears in a kinda nervous gesture.

"Hi,” Danny sat down next to Colleen.

"How was the talk with Fury?” his smile froze and Luke immediately regretted his question.

"Uhhm... uncomfortable. He wasn't mad but it... it's not an easy thing to talk about, you know? This kind of stuff."

"Yeah... Colleen's Spanish test went okay,” Luke quickly tried to change the topic.

"That's great,” Danny beamed.

Colleen smiled, "I don't think it would have gone that well without your help."

Danny blushed yet again, "Nah, you were really good."

"Just take a compliment, man,” Luke smiled.

"Thank you, Colleen,” Luke noticed how both of them smiled during their direct eye contact. 

All things considered, today seemed to be a pretty good Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know, stopping self harm is difficult. But as Luke says, he wants to make Danny's progress visible and he asked Danny if he wanted to do this. There's also no real negative or positive consequence with the stickers. Danny will see/ is seeing a therapist So I hope it isn't somehow problematic. :/ I just thought the idea was kinda cute and writing down every compulsion, I resisted helped me with my OCD too.  
> As always, thanks for reading and to my beta @Casy_Dee. <3


	7. The Party

The Walkers lived in a nice little house in the suburbs. White picket fence with a red door and all of that. When Luke arrived after his fairly long ride with the bus, he could already hear the bass heavy music coming from the house. A few kids he had seen at school were gathered on the front lawn despite the chilly temperature. With a kind nod, Luke stepped past them and rang the doorbell. He needed to try a few times before it was heard and Patricia Walker answered the door.

"Hey,” the redhead grinned, "I heard Jess invited you, which is funny since she doesn't really participate."

Luke smiled, yeah, that was her. "Can I still come in?"

"Sure,” Trish stepped aside and let him in, "She's upstairs with Jack."

"Daniels?"

"Yeah. But you can also join us in the living room. We have booze too,” she raised one of these typical red cups.

"Thanks, maybe later,” Luke shouted after her as he walked up the stairs. The music was still as loud as in the story below and he was kinda surprised that in a neighborhood like this no one had called the cops yet.

The house turned out to be bigger than Luke had expected. At least five doors were leading away from the long hallway. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find Jess' thanks to the sign with a skull on it.

Luke knocked on the white wood and waited for a response.

"For the hundredth time Trish, I don't want--"

"It's me."

There was the sound of a bottle being sat down on a surface and then light footsteps.

"Hey,” Jessica opened the door and made an inviting gesture.

"Hey,” Luke looked around the tiny room. It looked just like you would expect Jessica Jones' room to look like. Dark blue, purple, and black colored furniture, not much sappy stuff but also a lot of books and a lonely guitar. Jessica smiled unusually kindly, and sat down on her bed, gesturing for Luke to do the same.

"Party ,huh?” Luke smiled.

"I didn't want to sit here all alone while Trish has this stupid thing going on."

Luke sat down, "You know, you could just join her."

Jessica looked at him as if he had just grown a second head, "With these people, ugh... Look, I love Trish, I really do but... this isn't me. Parties, people, this is her stuff, you know?"

"Yeah. Thanks for invitation, anyway."

She shrugged but Luke could see a smile in addition to her pretended indifference.

"So… you and Trish are actually pretty tight?"

She nodded, before she offered him her bottle with booze, "Want some?"

Luke nodded and took a sip, enjoying how the liquor burned on its way down, "Your mother is not here?"

"My adoptive mother and no. She's on some _business trip_ ,” she made little marks in the air, as she spoke out the last two words.

"Which means?"

"Fucking some guy?” Jess grinned, "She does everything to make Trish famous."

"Wow."

"To be honest, I don't even know if she wants that. I guess she just projects her own unfulfilled dreams on her."

Luke tilted his head, "Sounds familiar."

"You? Big Football star?"

"The thing is... Football's fun, the team's great... mostly and I need it for college but... I don't think I want to do this for the rest of my life."

"What do you want to do?” Jessica took a massive sip from her bottle.

"I don't even know and I don't really want to think about because, I know where my future is, and it doesn't matter where I want it to be."

She nodded, "I also don't know what I want to do. Back when I was with Kevin--” she took another big sip, "I thought I wanted to be his. Just a simple housewife staying home... maybe with kids and waiting for him to return. Occasionally we would go out, I would wear a nice dress, that kind of stuff. One day I realized that I didn't want any of that. It was what he wanted me to be and now I feel like there's a whole world of possibilities and I'm lost in it."

"Sounds like a lot of stuff to deal with."

"Yeah."

"The future is scary."

"The future can kiss my ass,” Jess emptied the bottle.

"Did you drink the whole thing, or was it already that way?"

She shrugged.

"The whole thing, I see,” Luke laughed.

"Yeah,” she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Are your parents okay with you sneaking out late at night?" I mean your dad's a preacher right?"

"How do you--? Oh you know stuff. Right. Not really, but they don't have to know. Besides I'm eighteen and can actually do what I want."

"It's weird, isn't it? I mean we're adults and still feel like kids."

"Because we're treated that way, but right now I can't move to my own place soo... I don't have any other choice. I don't want to leave Trish with her mom,” Jessica shrugged and avoided Luke's gaze.

"That's a good thing."

She nodded, "Do you think that I am a good person?"

"Well, I don't believe that only good people can do good things, but I believe that you're good, yeah."

"I've done some horrible, terrible things though."

"Good people can do bad things. It happens."

She nodded and kissed him gently, Luke let her take the lead and as soon as he opened up to it, Jessica's kiss got rougher and wilder.

 

* * *

 

 

 When Luke woke up, it was almost morning. He hadn't really realized when the party ended, but everything was quiet now. He searched for his phone in his discarded pants and checked the time, 4:34. He needed to catch the bus home before his parents came into his room to wake him up. He gave Jessica a gentle tug and watched her as she yawned and blinked a few times. He could literally see in her eyes how she pierced together the events of last night. She reached towards her head and sighed, the universal gesture, for  _"Shit I'm totally hung over."_

 _  
_ Luke smiled, "I have to go."

She nodded, "I guess I'm gonna text you," and then she turned around and by the way her breathing changed, Luke was sure that she was back to sleep as he left the room.

Downstairs was a mess. Empty party cups, the smell of alcohol and puke as well as empty pizza boxes were only part of what Luke could make out in the dim light. He made his way towards the door past a boy who’d fallen asleep on the floor with the beer can still in his hand and quietly closed the door behind him.

  
While the fresh air was clean and a blessing compared to the smell inside, Luke shivered. Maybe from the tiredness, or having spent the last few hours under a warm blanket next to a warm body. He warmed his hands with his breath and walked towards the bus station. This was probably not the best neighborhood to hang out in as a black guy at that funny time, but whatever. He would just have to wait a few minutes for the bus and that was it.  
He wasn't sure why exactly last night had happened the way it had, but he was somehow happy. Yes, he had a crush on Jess but he actually hadn't expected to move on it. Mostly because he assumed that she would beat him to hell for it. So, it had been convenient that she had made the first move. And yes, he was well aware that they had to deal with whatever this meant for the future of their friend-slash relationship but for now, Luke was happy and he could just enjoy that and worry about the rest later.

As he sat down on the bench, he checked his messages on his phone. Danny had sent him pictures of both of his wrists yesterday evening and Luke smiled. He had cut himself again a few days ago, not really deep but it had been enough to cause worries for Luke. He'd been  _"clean"_  for two days now and Luke sent him a small squid emoji, which would be what he would put in his calendar when they saw each other next Monday.

He leaned back against the bench and sighed. He had another game next week, as well as a test. Now, there was also the conversation he would have with Jess. He thought about their exchange yesterday evening, how he was uncertain if football really was his future. It had been the truth, but saying it out loud to someone he hasn't known  _that_  long felt weird. At this point, Luke wasn't sure if he would ever find out what he truly wanted. Maybe it was because he had only thought about other possibilities than football for a few months now, or he had avoided it just because he knew that it was a future that wouldn't turn into reality. He wanted to go to college but he wanted to be more than The Football Star.

He spent the whole time waiting for the bus and the ride back home lost in his thoughts. He almost missed his stop, but luckily, the unique aroma of small restaurants a few blocks away brought his senses back to the here and now.

  
Luke sprinted up the stairs towards his apartment and slowed down one story below. From there on, he walked carefully. He slipped out of his shoes before he searched for his key and slowly unlocked the door. Then he "danced" over the hallway, avoiding every single creaking part, before he slipped into his room, undressed himself and fell immediately back to sleep.

His mother woke him, after what could not have been more than an hour of solid sleep.

"Can I please have a few more minutes,” Luke yawned.

"Why are you so tired, didn't you go to bed early yesterday?

"I did, but I couldn't really sleep,” at least that was not a lie.

His mother sighed, "Well...breakfast's ready, and I cook for you every morning, so if I were you, I would move my ass and be in the kitchen as soon as you're dressed."

Luke buried his face in his pillow, "Give me five minutes, okay?"

His mom nodded and closed the door. 

Luke had enough time to shower after the breakfast, so he didn't really need to waste time with that now. Instead he allowed himself a quick look at his phone.

Misty had asked him about some homework.

Danny had replied to the sticker with a smiling emoji.

Jess had sent pictures from the mess she was helping Colleen cleaning up.

Luke had to smile at that, although he had to admit that Danny's small emoji was the most important out of the bunch. If Danny was writing, it meant that he hadn't attempted suicide again. He couldn't help but smile fondly, as he looked at the stupid yellow emoji smile. Then he had finally found the strength to lift himself up from the bed and get dressed in jeans and a large yellow shirt.

His mom was waiting in the kitchen, " Your father is still asleep, try not to wake him."

"Don't worry, I won't,” Luke started to eat his bacon and pancakes.

"I'll go to town now, we need groceries."

"And why did I have to get up now when I have to eat alone anyway?” Luke asked.

"Because I made you breakfast and I don't want it to get cold."

Luke laughed, "Alright, alright."

Mrs. Cage smiled and waved at her son as she left the room. 

Luke grinned, before he went back to check his phone and actually replied to his friends. He sent Misty the homework, Danny an approving thumb and texted Jessica back.

_Looks like a lot of work, you guys gonna be okay?_

A few seconds later, his phone dinged.

_-Trish has to do most of the work, it was her party after all._

_Wow, nice of you :)_

_-Hey, I'm helping_

_I know, I know. I wish you good luck that you can manage that until your mom comes back. Do you need help?_

_-Until you're here, we're probably done here._

_Okay._

_-See u Monday._

_Yeah._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee, as always <3


	8. Flag on the Field

The following Monday was a stormy one. Rain was pouring down on Mid Town High and all of the students in front of the building hurried to get inside. Luke was waiting at the entrance for the bunch of kids arriving on the bus. He hadn't seen Jess yet, but he wasn't really mad or worried because of that. He would see her in Philosophy no matter what. He wasn't really worried about  _"the"_  talk, if they were a couple now that would be cool, if not it wouldn't shatter his dreams. Three days ago, he wouldn't have even considered this as a possibility.

Dozens of kids, all of them wet to the bone, hurried through the giant doors and Luke refocused his attention on them. It didn't take long until he spotted those golden curls. He tipped Danny on his shoulder and returned the smile Luke offered him.

"Hi,” Luke grinned and gently pulled Danny aside, so that they wouldn't block the way in. He noticed that it was hard for some reason and only as they let go, Luke realized that Danny had been holding Colleen's hand. Luke was happy, but for some reason the smile he gave Danny wasn't a hundred percent sincere and he hoped it still reached his eyes.

"Did I miss something with you two?"

Danny smiled and waved after Colleen, who hurried towards a classroom, before he answered, "I... uhm... guess."

"That's great."

"Thank you."

"What about the sticker?” Luke asked.

"That's uhm... you don't have to check. None for today. I mean... uhm for yesterday."

"Well, you still get two for the weekend,” Luke waited for Danny to offer him the book and put a small squid and a turtle on the Friday and Saturday pages. Sunday would have been a snail.

Danny smiled a bit shyly but still proud.

"So what about yesterday?” Luke asked, as they slowly walked along the hallway after Danny had put the calendar away.

"My foster family...” he shrugged, "I had a bad day and... they didn't help. I mean, they made it worse. I cut myself deep and I was scared that I would... do worse, and then I called Colleen and she told me that she... that it would be terrible for her if I would actually kill myself and--"

"And that's how you two got together."

He nodded.

"Can I... can I see."

Danny tilted his head but then he rolled up his sleeves and revealed his wrists. The cuts were pretty far up his arm but yeah, they were really deep. Not completely healed yet and Luke bet they must hurt, especially with the cotton of Danny's shirt rubbing over it.  
Without really thinking, Luke gently brushed a finger over the wound. Danny flinched slightly and looked away.

"Sorry,” Luke whispered.

"It's... it's not,” Danny shook his head, "It's okay."

 "Where do you need to go?"

"Uhhmm. History."

"Okay, do you want me to come with you?"

Danny shrugged, "You don't have to, but it would be nice."

Luke had to smile at that. And while they walked in silence, it wasn't really uncomfortable. Shortly before they arrived at Danny's class room, they passed Christopher and his friends. Luke tensed and registered that Danny stubbornly raised his chin next to him. Luke could feel Christopher’s stare on his back, but he didn't say anything. At the class room, he checked if Danny's teacher was already there, and hoped the other boy hadn't noticed before he walked towards his own class.

 

* * *

 

 

Jessica was already waiting for him. Of course she wouldn't really show or tell that but Luke could see it in the way she stared at the door and looked away as soon as Luke walked in. Of course he wouldn’t confront her with that.

"Good morning,” he greeted and she smiled in return.

"Hey."

"How... uhm was the cleanup."

"It was okay, we actually did it in time. Mostly because I shouted at some of Trish's guests and asked them to leave or I would kick them out of the window."

Luke chuckled softly, "I don't have any trouble believing that worked."

Jess grinned, "They ran incredibly fast after that."

"I wish I could have helped."

"You had to go home."

"Do you...” Luke sighed and lowered his voice," do you want to do this more often?"

"The sex?"

"Psht,” Luke was sure the girls in front of him hadn't heard a thing but still, better to be safe than sorry. He didn’t want rumors to spread across school, the way they usually did.

"What, does the big football star not want anybody to think that he's sleeping with ugly duckling Jessica Jones."

Luckily still none of the other student seemed to be listening, "You’re everything but ugly. That's not it. I just don't want the whole school to know about my sex life."

She smiled devilishly, "I know."

Luke smiled, "Still doesn't answer my question."

"I don't know. I guess?"

"Wow. That's a love confession right there."

She laughed and elbowed him in the side as the lesson started.

 

* * *

 

 

"Luke Cage?” Ms. Hill interrupted Luke's class a few minutes before the end of the lesson.

"Yes,” Luke showed up.

"Would you please come with me?"

Luke nodded and tried to think of any reason for it. He didn't get in a fight, not recently and he--

Danny!

Danny.

He waited until he was out of the room again, what if Danny had attempted or worse committed suicide? What if Luke should have done something to help him, he would feel incredibly miserable.

The door fell close and Luke blurted out, "Is it Danny?

"What?” the way Hill replied and seemed to need a moment to make sense of the question calmed Luke. She wouldn't react this way if Danny was actually involved.

"No... No. Rand's fine."

Luke had to keep himself from making a too obviously relieved impression, "Good."

"I wouldn't say so."

"What is it then?” he asked.

"You'll find out soon enough,” Hill stopped in front of Principal Fury's office and held the door open for him.

Inside of the office, Luke found Coach Pop, Fury and two police officers.

"Luke Cage?” one of the cops asked.

Luke nodded.

"Sit down, boy,” Fury ordered.

Luke obeyed. It was a hell of an uncomfortable feeling. Sitting on a fairly tiny chair in front of Fury's desk with Ms. Hill, Pop and the cops behind him.

"This is Officers Benson and Gerrad,” Mr. Fury started.

Luke turned around and nodded, "Good morning."

They didn't return his smile.

Fury continued, "This morning, we got an anonymous tip. Someone told us that one of our students is planning on selling drugs here at school."

"We had to call in the police,” Ms. Hill concluded.

"We searched the lockers of all students. We had real hints that this was necessary. We found 5 bags of heroin inside of your locker."

"What?” Luke shouted, "That can't be possible! I've never ever in my life been around drugs!"

"The evidence speaks against you,” one of the cops said, Luke wasn't sure which one it was, frankly he didn't care.

"I'm an athlete about to start college. My  _spotless_  record aside, do you think I would touch drugs and risk my future?” Luke looked at Pop. 

"We are accusing you of dealing drugs, Mr. Cage, not consuming them,” the other cop stated.

"My statement still stands."

"We know that your family is in financial trouble. Maybe you wanted to earn a little something to help them."

"I have never done anything illegal here at school."

Pop nodded, "I've vouched for you."

"Sadly that isn't enough in this case,” Director Fury smiled kindly. Maybe it was an attempt to soothe Luke, but it didn't really work.

"We’re charging you in a criminal investigation,” Cop #1 said.

"And we'll have to suspend you until further notice,” Fury sighed.

 

* * *

 

 

Luke wasn't a hundred percent sure what to do now. He had never been suspended before. He knew that he needed to get home and he knew that he had to tell his parents. They needed to get a lawyer, fight against the charges and try to get him back into the school and maybe even the team. He knew all of that, but still he had to admit that he was scared.  
So instead of going home and figuring that out right now, he avoided that part and went for an aimless walk through the city first. He got a few messages from friends who heard that he'd been called to the principal but Luke ignored them.

It took almost two hours until he arrived home. His mom wasn't there and his father was sitting in the kitchen with a newspaper.

"Already home? Is any of your teachers sick?"

Luke smiled at him not considering or expecting anything else from him, "No."

"Hmm...What is it then?"

"Dad?” Luke started.

"What is it?” it was almost scary, how his father's tone could change from calm, collected and gentle to threatening and strict within seconds.

"I was suspended."

"You were what?!” his father almost exploded. The thing was... he was a kind man but he had always wanted to raise Luke, his only son, perfectly. He should stay clear of drugs, alcohol and crime. His dad had seen a lot of criminals and feared that his son would turn into one of them.

"I was suspended."

"Why?” he sounded dangerous when he spoke this slowly.

Luke sighed, "Dad, look--"

"Why?"

"They  _found_  drugs in my locker."

"You did what?!"

"I did nothing! I never have touched drugs in my life!"

"Go to your room!” his dad screamed.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I'm an adult, dad."

"Go. To. Your. Room."

Luke crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Talk to me."

"I'm gonna call your mother now and tell her what you did. And I want you to wait in your room."

"What  _I did?_ You don't believe me? You of all people should know me better, that’s not me. I’m not a thug or a criminal or something! _”_

"Your room. Now!"

Luke could feel the anger boiling inside of him. The thing was, he actually wanted to go to his room and be alone right now but he didn't want his father to feel like the winner of this. Slamming the door shout seemed like the middle ground.

Luke threw himself onto his bed. For the first time in years, he felt like crying. Why did life have to be so mean to him? Yes, he hadn't always been perfect but this was ridiculous. His future was at stake, and yes, maybe he hadn't always been a hundred percent passionate about that idea, of being a football player but this was his best chance of achieving something for his future. His father not believing in him was probably the worst thing. Maybe, now was the time to turn towards his friends.

Misty texted him, asking him if everything was okay. He wrote a quick text explaining the situation.

  
He received similar questions from Danny, Colleen and Jessica. Claire had asked him a simple _"?"_  
  
Luke copied and pasted his answer to Misty and sent it to the others. He had no desire to write that shit down all over again. 

Danny was the first to reply, writing that he was sorry and asked what he could do. Luke was sure that Danny was the last person he would dump his own problems on.

_-Wait._

Jessica recommended him a lawyer. Luke wasn't sure if she was kidding or not, but he thanked her anyway.

Colleen asked some details, asked if he knew anything about the guy who sent the tip.

Claire sent back an angry message about how this couldn't just happen.

_-Ikr_

And Misty made a plan with things they could investigate to prove Luke's innocence.

Later Matt Murdock wrote him. Misty had informed him and as a law freak and future lawyer he wanted to help. After Luke asked him why exactly, he said that he had heard good things about him and genuinely wanted to help others.

Luke laid back down on his bed. Somehow, that amount of care about him made him feel warm and relieved. Maybe his father didn't believe him, but at least his ex, his best friend, two kids he had known for a few weeks and a guy he barely knew believed in him.  
It wasn't ideal but it was better than nothing and Luke was really thankful to have those people in his life... well more or less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always: All the love for @Casy_Dee.


	9. More Bad News

Luke's phone rang late at night... or better said early in the morning.

"This is Ryker’s prison for youth. There's a call for you, do you want to accept it."

Luke blinked a few times against the bright light of his display.

Where they asking for him?  He wasn't supposed to be in prison. He was under investigation. But if the call was for him... it didn't have to do with the drugs... or at least he thought so. What could it be then?

"Yes."

There was no answer just the sound of a line being connected.

"Hey." -Danny.

"What the hell, Danny, what, why?"

"Something... something has happened."

"What...are you under arrest? Why? Did you hurt yourself?"

"No... it's... I beat up my foster father. Badly."

"What the hell, why?"

He heard his voice breaking a bit, "I... I never told you... Never told anyone. But since I'm with them... he would touch me."

"Jesus, Danny." Luke whispered softly.

"Just his hands brushing over my ass or thigh, when he passes me. The first few times I thought it was on accident."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Danny whispered, " I have no proof, Luke. He scares me and it's the word of a traumatized orphan against that of a long time foster parent." 

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"We barely know each other and... I'm ashamed."

"What happened tonight?"

Luke was sure, that Danny was crying on the other end of the line now, "I woke up and he was leaning over me."

"Did he--" Luke gasped.

"No! I felt his hand sliding under the blanket and then my pants I... There was so much rage. I jumped at him and I beat and punched and... he's in the hospital and there was a lot of blood. My foster mom called the police. I'm sorry, I didn't know who to call."

"It's okay. What about Colleen?"

"Her orphanage takes the kids phones away at night."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Danny sighed, "Well, CPS are sending a lawyer. I was on the phone with her and maybe I can get out on bail, until I've had my hearing in front of a court."

"That's good, I guess."

"Luke?"

"Huh?"

"I'm scared."

"So am I, because of the whole drug thing and... now you."

"Sorry." Danny whispered.

"No. No. Don't be."

"I'll call you in a few hours, okay? Sleep well."

"Okay and, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"That asshole deserved it."

Luke was sure that he heard a soft chuckle before the other boy hung up.

 _Sleep well..._ Not as easy with all of these problems Luke had right now. He sighed and leaned back against his pillows.

Danny would probably end up at an orphanage now, with a lot of kids. Hopefully this wouldn't end up making his self-harm worse once again. A few days ago, Luke would have asked his parents to take him in, until they found someone. But after their fight following his suspension, that wasn't an option now.

Man, this wasn't easy. He actually had to focus on his own mess, but now there was Danny and he felt as if he was somewhat responsible for him.

His parents had arranged a meeting with a lawyer for tomorrow. Luke could go over there and care about his own mess, then he could meet with Danny, either directly at prison or in freedom.

Luke sighed and set his alarm clock to 7 am.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The meeting with his parents and the lawyer had been pretty uneventful to Luke. Yes, things were looking terrible and the only thing he had going for him was his quite clean record and some statements from fellow students. Despite that, he was well advised to search for a new school and hope for a lenient judge. Matt Murdock had offered to meet him along with Luke's friends for a pizza and see if they could think of something new. Luke wasn't sur, what Murdock's sudden interest in him meant and he wasn't sure if he could trust him or not. That being said, this was better than nothing. Sometime during his talk with the lawyer, Danny had written him that he was out until the police had investigated in his case. He wasn't allowed to leave the city, but that was the least of his concerns.

   
Despite his own problems, Luke was happy that Danny could at least join them for their pizza; it was all about the small victories.

When Luke arrived, Murdock and Danny were there chatting with Misty and Claire on the other side of the table. 

"Hey, Luke." It was crazy how blind Matt Murdock of all people had noticed him first.

As everyone at the table turned around, Luke noticed how his eyes were fixated on Danny, he was smiling way too bright for someone who had spent the night in prison, but that was better than the alternative. Luke returned the kind greetings of everyone and squeezed himself on the bench next to Danny. Matt silently handed him the menu.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?"

"Yeah, but you can already pick something. We're hungry." Misty muttered.

Luke nodded and studied the choice of toppings, when Danny gave him a tiny, gentle tug in the side.

"Huh?" Luke asked.

Danny grinned and pulled up his sleeves, "At least I've got that going on for me."

The others at the table gave the boys a puzzled look.

"I have the stickers back home. Another time, okay?"

Danny nodded.

"Should we ask?" Claire tilted her head.

Misty shrugged, "Nah, not worth it."

"Well look who's there!" Luke turned around. He needed a few moments to identify the familiar voice. It was female, but not Colleen or Jess as he had expected. By the look however, there was no way of not recognizing Daisy Johnson. Her medium short dark hair was jumping over her shoulders as she jogged over towards them. She was wearing an the same indigo uniform as all the employees in the diner.

"Hey. You work here?" Claire smiled.

"Part times yeah. My shift is actually over... would you mind if I join you?"

Luke noticed the way she mostly spoke with or towards Matt. They knew each other since they were children; they’d grown up in the same orphanage. Daisy was now adopted. A few years ago there had been a rumor that her father was a serial killer, but that had been in middle school. Luke considered her to be a nice and trustworthy girl and the whole school was aware of why he'd been kicked out anyway.

 "Yeah." Luke answered and he could see Matt trying to cover a slight smile.

"Nice," she grinned and sat down at their table.

"Oh. Don't order the chili today."

Matt laughed, "We were going for pizza anyway, but why?"

"You don't want to. Just trust me."

"So, Daisy... this is about what happened to Luke..."

She frowned, "Oh. Yeah, I don't believe that you have anything to do with drugs."

"None of us does," Claire sighed.

"But we still need to find a way out of this mess." Danny leaned his head down on his arm.

Luke looked at him and gave him a gentle tug at the shoulder, "Are you sure that you want to be-- that you want to do this and not focus on... other things?"

"Yeah."

Luke sighed and looked at the others, something in Claire's gaze was weird. The way she was looking at him...

"Okay."

"Hi. Sorry we're late!", Colleen was storming into the diner, Jess a few feet behind.

Misty smiled, "We were just getting started... and we have a new member of the Luke Cage Defenders," she pointed at Daisy who then waved at the other two girls.

"You came here together?" Matt asked.

"We were on the same bus." Colleen answered as she gave Danny a quick peck on his lips over the table.

Jessica made no signs of greeting Luke that way, so he decided not to risk pressuring her into anything or getting hit in the ribs.

 

"Soooo..." Danny started after all of them had ordered their pizzas, "Where do we start?"

"Well, ... there's that anonymous guy. He could be the key to everything..." Misty sighed.

Jess nodded, " Yeah. There's no way he didn’t put the drugs it in that locker..."

"Which leads us to the combination." Matt concluded.

"Is there anyone who knows your combination?" Colleen asked.

"I don't think so," Luke considered that for a few moments before he added, "No."

"Well, if it had been broken the school or police would have noticed." Danny sighed.

Claire nodded, "Yeah that would be suspicious."

"But is there any-- How does the school open them? Are the combinations stored somewhere, or is there one code to open every locker?" Daisy tilted her head.

"Well, if there is a  _master code_ , Fury wouldn't just give it out to anyone," Jess shrugged.

Matt nodded, "And he wouldn't give out the list either."

"If that thing exists, it's probably somewhere in his office. Behind another code, maybe." Jessica took a sip of her coke.

"What about the drugs?" Danny asked, "If we find out who actually bought them where--"

"No! We're not getting any close to drug dealers! I'd rather get sentenced to jail time than drag you guys into organized crime."

"Yeah." Misty nodded.

Colleen smiled, "I admire your bravery though."

"Do you think Fury will tell us anything about the lockers when we ask him?" Daisy played with a strand of her hair.

"Fury? No!" Jess looked at Luke, "But luckily, we have someone here who has a very good relationship with a certain coach.

Luke smiled; maybe this could work.

 

* * *

 

 

 

This remained their main plan for the future. By the time the pizza had arrived, the conversation changed to other topics. Jess even let Luke have some of her pizza in return for a piece of his. They sat there until late evening and it was only a matter of time until all the bad events of the past faded slowly from the kids’ memories. In the end, it was only Luke, Danny and Daisy left at the diner. Matt and Colleen both had to be at the orphanage before curfew and the others left a bit after them to avoid trouble with their parents.

Eventually, it was time to go, and they stood in the freezing cold waiting for the bus. At least until they could see Daisy's bus approaching in the distance. 

"It was fun with you guys." Daisy smiled.

Luke grinned, "Same. I'll see, if I can talk to Pop and then I'll tell you guys what I found out."

She smiled and boarded the bus, waving at the two boys.

"Where do you have to go?" Luke asked.

"I... uhmm... there are no places at the regional orphanage."

"Danny."

"My foster family."

"Your old one?" Luke had to be careful not to scream out of shock.

"The dad's still at the hospital, but the mother's there."

"And they take you back? I mean apart from them ordering you back there?"

"Well as I said, they would have put me in an orphanage if there was enough space to take me in. And the family doesn't have a choice, they’re required to take me back.”

Luke rolled his eyes, this was a mess, but he had no real choice. He couldn't let Danny walk back into the family where he'd been abused and where he had beat someone up so bad that he had to be hospitalized. His parents were already mad at him and this couldn't get any worse... besides maybe his parents would feel sorry for Danny. Thinking about it, he wouldn't be surprised if Danny was actually planning to spend his night on the streets and that was something his father had never wanted for any kid to go through. All things considered, it was a possibility that his parents would allow Danny to stay for at least one night, but Luke wasn't willing to risk a no. There were fire stairs in front of his window... Damn, he was gonna regret this, "You can stay with me, if you want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee.


	10. Moon and Stars

Luke and Danny took the last bus that night that drove to Luke's neighborhood. Instead of talking on the way, Luke passed Danny his earbud and they listened to hip hop music together. For a few moments, Luke thought that Danny had fallen asleep with his cheek against the stained window, but in the reflection of the glass, Luke could see that the other boy’s eyes were still open but just intensely watching the streets. it reminded Luke of that one time he had hitched a ride with Frank and his dog. The dog had spent the whole ride looking out of the window.

"What are you thinking about?” Luke asked as he paused the current song.

"Huh? Nothing."

"The city's beautiful at night, isn't it?"

Danny finally looked at Luke, "I was looking at the homeless people we drove by."

"And you don't want to end up with them."

Danny nodded.

"Listen, they will eventually find a new place for you."

"Mrs. Hogarth, the lawyer from CPS told me that as well, but I'm not sure if I believe it."

Luke sighed, "But it's what they do. Finding places for kids who have nowhere else to go."

"Currently you're doing just that."

Luke grinned, "Don't get used to it."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Do you have to go to school tomorrow?” Luke changed the topic.

"I... I think? Yes."

"Okay, then, you'll have to go alone. I'll set my alarm, but you have to shower at school and I'm not sure if my clothes fit you."

Danny nodded.

"Oh and there are a few other rules: You only leave my room over the fire ladder, I can't afford more trouble with my parents. And if your foster mom actually searches for you, you have to go back. I'm sorry but the only thing I need less than getting into a fight with my parents is trouble with the police or other authorities. And if my parents catch you, you have to explain, and you need to tell everything. I'm sorry but otherwise they will be furious for sure."

Danny offered him his hand for a shake, "Deal?"

"Deal."

 

* * *

 

Back at home, Luke hurried ahead. He said hello and good night to his parents, who were still mad at him and dumped his backpack on the floor of his room. His door didn't have a key, so Luke used his desk chair to block the door in case his parents visited him, which they never did usually. Luke just wanted to be sure.

Luke opened his window and looked down to see Danny standing where he'd been when he asked him to wait after they left the bus. It was fairly cold and Danny had his hands shoved into his pockets. He was carrying the only things he had left, his clothes, the beanie he was wearing over his golden curls and the small backpack he carried, and Luke could feel a slight ache in his chest at that look.

After Luke's whistle, Danny looked up and flashed him a short smile. Luke returned the gesture and kicked the fire ladder down. He watched as Danny climbed up and reached for Danny's hands to pull him inside.

"Welcome to my castle,” Luke smiled.

"Thank you... although... my room was taller,” Danny grinned.

"Wow. You're coming in here and the first thing you do is insult my room."

"I wasn't finished. Yours is way nicer than my last one, I mean. My foster parents wouldn't let me have much furniture or posters... or stuff."

"Suddenly small doesn't sound so bad anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"It's--"

"No, I'm really thankful for you letting me stay here. I should have started with that."

"Nah, you've been through a lot. It's okay that you're a little off."

"So were you, and you seem pretty okay,” Danny shrugged.

"Trust me, I'm not.” Luke pulled the stickers out of one of his drawers.

"Can I help you?"

"I actually think being with someone tonight will help."

Danny smiled softly and pulled his calendar out of his backpack. Luke opened it on today's page and added a little moon to the date, "Next one is due for midnight."

"Fitting somehow,” Danny grinned.

"Considering that we have a sleepover, yes."

"Is... is that a sleepover?” Danny asked.

"I guess."

"Huh, I never had one..."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No..."

Luke tried to remember the last time he had a sleepover that wasn't a house party taking very long or a night spent with a girl, "I think I once slept over at Hernan's. We were ten and we ended up destroying all of their pillows in a fight. Neither my nor his parents allowed us to have sleepovers ever again."

"So, eight years ago, and once... doesn't sound like you have your fair experience either,” Danny grinned.

"Fair point. Speaking of sleeping, we need to figure out a way to not have you sleeping on the floor,” Luke pointed at his bed, which was hideously small and barely even fitted him alone. 

"You don't happen to have a spare mattress around?"

"Nope. Not here. The couch in our living room can be used to sleep on, but that's too risky.” The thought of his parents finding out caused Luke to lower the volume of his voice.

Danny looked around Luke's room, "The rug doesn't look that uncomfortable, maybe we can fold it?"

Luke nodded, "We can also soften it with clothes from my closet."

"Thank you,” Danny smiled.

Luke got up and took some of his softest shirts and jackets from the closet while Danny folded the rug once. "You should also put this on.” Luke threw him an old shirt and sweat pants.

"I'm fine."

"Don't bullshit me. Sleeping in jeans is terrible."

Danny opened his mouth to thank Luke, but he was fast enough to stop him, "It's okay."

Without any warning, Danny slipped out of his long-sleeved shirt. While he had definitely lost a lot of weight and muscle, Luke could still make out that he was actually in good shape. The most obvious feature however, were Danny's scars, most likely from the plane crash. That and the, now clearly visible uncovered, cuts not only on his wrist but all the way up his inner arm until the elbows. Luke wished that the shirt he had lent the other boy would cover these marks up as good as his long-sleeved shirts, but sadly that wasn't the case. Although it looked a little like a dress on the shorter boy, the sleeves ended exactly at Danny's elbows.

Before he had finished the thought, Danny had already slipped into the pants which were not nearly tight enough around the hips so that they almost slipped down and Danny had to hold them in place.

"This will do fine for sleeping. Thanks,” He smiled but Luke had stared a moment too long and Danny quickly twisted his arms in a way, that the scars and cuts weren't visible to Luke anymore.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to stare at you."

"No problem,” Danny shrugged.

Luke handed him a few shirts and jackets and they built a bed for Danny's that looked a bit like a nest. Once he was awake tomorrow, they would have to stuff it all back in the closet.

Just after Luke had placed the last piece, Danny laid down on the pile with the eagerness of a little kid that was trying a new toy for the first time.

"It's really comfortable,” he smiled. 

"Good. Maybe I should do this professionally instead of college, which isn't an option anymore either way."

"It'll be alright. I'll find Pop tomorrow and tell him to meet you, then we'll hopefully find out more."

Luke smiled, "I hope so."

"Should we go to bed now?"

"Well, if we want this to be your first sleepover, we should stay up and do something."

"Like what?"

Luke thought about it for a moment; he knew that sleepovers usually involved party games and more people. Also some girls. He thought about truth or dare and somehow ended up with the thought of kissing Danny. Surprisingly, he didn't force it out of his head. Luke looked around the room to avoid looking Danny in the eyes and it somehow ended up on his laptop.

"Maybe we could watch a movie?” he suggested.

Danny nodded, "What do you have?"

"Maybe a horror movie first and something funny after?"

Another enthusiastic nod.

For the first movie, Luke went with a modern classic, Paranormal Activity. He had a weakness for slowly building psychological horror that lived through its tension. He could watch it a thousand times and still be creeped the hell out by it. Danny sat closely next to him, to have a good view of the screen. Their shoulders were touching and during the quite moments of the film, Luke could hear his breath. Somehow the warmth of the touch and the sound of him in and exhaling was enough to calm him down. And Danny shuffling a bit closer as the movie progressed was surprisingly soothing in a way.

After the movie was over, it was already a few minutes past midnight. Luke nudged Danny in the side and took his hands to look at his wrists.  
The smaller boy chuckled softly and handed Luke his calendar.

"And that is for yesterday,” he added a sticker, which showed a few stars.

Danny smiled and carefully traced the outlines of the sticker with his finger.

Luke watched him intensely, before he started the second movie. Sharknado. He had chosen it because it was perfect to watch with friends at night and make fun of.  
Somehow their movie session was a lot better than the one he had with Hernan with these exact movies. They were laughing harder than Luke had in months. And the fact that they had to muffle the sounds they made with Luke's blanket and pillows to not wake Luke's parents, didn’t hurt.

And when the credits were scrolling over the screen, Luke's eyes were wet with tears and Danny was laying on his back gasping for air.

"What a bunch of trash,” Danny whisper-laughed.

Luke grinned and nodded, "But damn it's nice to make fun of. "

"Yeah,” Danny slowly slid down from Luke's bed, where they had leaned against the wall to watch and crawled into his own makeshift bed and while Luke didn't want the night to end, he remembered that Danny had school tomorrow.

"Sorry."

"For what?” Danny asked while Luke turned off his Laptop and the lights.

_For failing you. For not helping you when you needed it. For believing in you being not worth it, without knowing you._

"For keeping you awake this long."

He could hear his clothes on the floor move as Danny shuffled in his bed, "It's way more sleep than I would have gotten at my foster home or on the streets and besides, it was so worth it."

"If you want to. You can stay tomorrow night as well."

Danny shuffled more and his answer coming from the darkness sounded so soft and weak, "I don't want to cause any inconveniences."

"You're not. Today, with you and the others at the diner and this evening or night, or whatever. I haven't had this much honest fun in a while."

"Me too, I guess..."

Danny chuckled softly, "Is it bad that I feel relieved for beating my foster dad?"

"I don't think so."

"I mean, I've thought about this ever since I realized that he was touching me on purpose, but I always thought that I would feel... remorse."

"And now, it's not there?” Luke asked.

"Yeah, now it's the opposite."

"Well as far as I can tell, you are a good person. And, I think that if you don't consider it wrong, it's fine," he smiled.

Danny nodded. At least Luke thought so, judging by the shuffling of fabric.

"Thanks."

"It's just the truth man."

"It's still nice that you put it that way. I always envied you for how good you are with words and people."

"You are quite charming yourself."

"Maybe."

Luke smiled fondly, "Good Night, Danny."

"Good Night, Luke,” the other boy whispered softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, @Casy_Dee <3


	11. Another Love

**_Beep-Beep_ **

Luke's alarm was merciless. Danny groaned and crawled out of his bed Luke looked at him through half closed eyes and smiled before he turned around and immediately fell asleep again.

 

>   _It was all the same as he remembered. Danny and he were sitting on his bed and laughing at a bad movie. The difference was what happened after the credits were done. They were both leaning back still out of breath from laughter... until suddenly Danny leaned over Luke's face and kissed him. It was even more surprising that Luke really got into it and that he was the one to let his hands slide down the other boy’s pants..._

 

The next day when Luke woke up, he had to figure out if what he just dreamt had been actual reality or not. Luckily, Danny was gone, the window was still open, and it was cold. Quickly Luke got up and slammed it closed. Then he started to clean up the mess of clothes on the floor and took the chair away from the door. He could already smell the pancakes.

Luke wasn't sure if some of them were meant for him or not but he actually didn't want to face his parents right now. Instead of going to the kitchen, Luke grabbed a hoodie, a pair of jeans, and some underwear, and vanished in the bathroom to take a shower. He hadn't checked his phone yet to have a look at his messages. His priority was to get out of there as fast as possible and then see what progress they made today.

  
Luke turned the temperature up almost as far as possible during his shower; he liked the feeling when his skin felt as if it was on fire and he was being reborn in the heat. After that Luke dressed himself in his warm clothes and wiped the fog away from the mirror. His parents still hadn’t called for him and he assumed that they also didn't want to see him right now.

Still Luke was quiet when he left their apartment. Not only that but he even held his breath as he walked down the stairs and only relaxed when he was outside on the street. He sighed loudly and leaned against the wall as he reached for his phone inside of his jeans' pocket. 

  
Danny had just written that he didn't have a chance to talk to Pop yet. However it was adorable that he had sent several messages ensuring him that he would try to meet him as soon as possible. Luke had to smile at that he really cared.

  
Jessica was asking him to meet for lunch. She was apparently ditching school today and was planning to eat at a local burger place. Given that he was hella hungry it was a good idea and Luke answered suggesting a time that was a bit too soon for lunch. Luke didn't assume that Jessica cared though since she drank booze for breakfast.  
Apart from that there was nothing new.

Luke sighed what now? He could do everything and nothing and in an odd way it was overwhelming...

He was feeling empty all of the sudden. He wasn't sure where to go or what to do. All of his friends were at school, which was the only place he couldn't go to. He was relying on Danny and Jess to meet him or give him new information on his current situation. He wanted to do something himself. This was  _his_ problem after all this was  _his_ life. He was responsible for it and he didn't want others to drag him out of his shit. Danny had too much on his own plate already and Luke knew that Jessica had her demons too.

Resigned, Luke pulled out his phone yet again and texted his... girlfriend.

> _Can we please meet a bit earlier? I need someone to talk to._

He knew that he was pathetic and that Jessica was having a hard time not to pick on him. 

> _Sure._

Her reply came quick and was a lot kinder and way more understanding than Luke had expected. 

> _Thank you._

Luke smiled absently and made himself on the way to the burger place. He would need a bit longer than Jessica needed to get there from her house but knowing her it wouldn't really bother her much if she was there too early and on her own. Maybe she had even found a way to smuggle alcohol in there and get drunk already.

Maybe his girlfriend's alcoholism should bother him but he didn't even know Jessica enough to judge her. Alcohol addiction often had a deeper and tragic reason. One day Luke might ask her about her past but only when, or if, she opened up to him one day. There was no telling if that would actually happen. Jess was not easy to read. She was an enigma; there was always some form of darkness lingering in her eyes. Even before they actually talked to each other, Luke had seen her on the hallways turning around always looking if someone was following her. It was scary in a way. Maybe Luke was meant to be with these damaged people. The little kid who slit his own wrists the alcoholic teen with paranoia the blind boy... Maybe he belonged with these people now.

That didn't explain his dream though. He had never really fantasized about boys and he was surrounded by fairly handsome guys during every damn football practice. Yes Danny was handsome and all but he just didn't get why he was suddenly attracted to him of all people.

  
Luke sighed and went on his way to the date with Jessica.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Hey." As expected Jessica was already had whiskey on her breath.

"Hi." Luke slowly leaned over the table and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

To his surprise, Jessica didn't punch or kick him in the guts. Instead she pulled him a little closer and opened up to him.

When they pulled apart she gestured for him to sit down.

"So, I did some research, or maybe we should call it logical thinking."

"I'm all ear."

"They searched your locker on Monday morning and I assume that there weren't any drugs when you got your philosophy stuff?"

"No."

"See," she grinned, "but they were there a few hours later. Not only that, the police found them a few hours later."

"So whoever framed me had very little time to place the drugs."

"Right. Besides that, I called Matt and we talked about how long it takes for the police to get a warrant. The case we're dealing with is special; the anonymous jerk has warned the school that you wanted to sell the drugs so they could use a quicker process to get a warrant from the judge, otherwise they would have asked you to open the locker in front of them or something."

Luke shrugged "Does that help us in your opinion?"

"I mean, if that was the case, they would have searched your locker during the weekend if they got the call earlier than Monday."

"So he called Monday, the police searched Monday, and the jerk placed the drugs on Monday."

Jessica nodded.

"That's at least some progress I guess."

"Yep."

She sighed and took a sip from her glass that at least seemed to contain Coke "Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Luke, look, I'm not good with people and I haven't known you that long, but you're somehow... weird today."

"I... it's… I don't know."

She laughed "Well if it's me, I'll slap you."

"It's not you. At least not mostly..."

"What do you mean?"

"I dreamt of someone else."

"Ohh." she shrugged.

"Aren't you mad?"

She grinned "Well if I would turn into a downer like you right now every time that I dream of Chris Evans I would drink  _a lot_  more."

"Wow. You're really cool with this."

"I mean it's not like you  _actually_  kissed or fucked her so..."

Luke decided not to tell his girlfriend that he hadn't dreamt of another girl but instead of a boy who was sorta one of his best friends right now... maybe? So instead of correcting her Luke just smiled softly "Yeah."

"Don't worry... we'll figure this out. I mean the drug thing not the kissing thing, although I guess we can do something about that too."

Jessica smiled and reached over the table to pull Luke into a pretty passionate kiss. A woman with a few kids on the table next to them cleared her throat and gave the two a disapproving look.

Jessica rolled her eyes and said just loud enough for them to hear, "What? Why aren't your brats in school anyway?"

  
Luckily the woman didn't ask Jess and Luke the same, instead she turned away and continued to eat her burger.

"So did the girl in your dream kiss  _this_  good?"

 _Actually yes._  

But since it hadn't been a girl Luke wasn't lying "No."

Jessica grinned smugly.

Luke couldn't help but return the smile, his lips still tasting like alcohol. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he liked this girl and he wouldn't let some weird dream diminish his feelings.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Luke was just leaving the burger place when his phone rang. He immediately recognized the number, Danny.

"Hey." Luke couldn't help but smile as he greeted his friend.

"Hi, how've you been?"

"Okay had a date, at least I guess, with Jess. How's yours been?"

"School's still school." Danny laughed

"I miss it."

"Sorry."

Luke shrugged before he realized that Danny couldn’t see that through the phone. Brilliant move Cage.

"It's okay. If everything goes according to plan I'll be back with you guys soon. And I'll probably regret it soon."

"Did you mean what you said last night?"

Luke shuddered. What?

"Excuse me?"

"The offer that I could stay a little longer at your place."

"Yeah. Sure thing."

"Okay I talked to Pop and he gave me his number so that I could forward it to you. You can discuss your meeting."

"Good work. Do you want to join us?"

"I have to be at the police precinct again."

Luke sighed "Can they put you in prison?"

"Hogarth said no. I'm gonna believe her although she scares me."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"I don't need anyone to hold my hand, thanks."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know... Sorry. C ya." Danny whispered softly.

"Bye."

Luke pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at Jessica "He sent me Pop's number, should I call him immediately?"

"I guess. He's probably expecting you otherwise I don't wanna know how Rand got the number... because ughh that would have been creepy."

Luke nodded and immediately called the number Danny had sent him.

"Hi Pop, it's me Luke." he said immediately after the call was answered.

"Hey kid."

"Has Dann-- Rand told you why I'm calling?"

"He said that it's about that drug thing and that you want to clear your name. As you know, I have a lot of faith in you, and I don't believe that you would have anything to do with drugs."

"Thank you. But you don't exactly know why I need your help and with what?"

"No."

"Okay. Do you know anything about a master code for lockers or a list with all of the combinations?"

He could hear the other man sigh at the end of the line "Fury will kill me if he finds out."

"Please... for me?"

"There's a master code."

"And does Fury know it by heart or does he keep it somewhere in his office."

"I don't know and if I would I wouldn't tell you, but I guess he keeps something as important as that written down somewhere."

"Thank you. I'll hopefully see you soon again." Luke smiled and hung up.

"Sooooo..." Jessica grinned, "What did he say?"

"That there may be a code somewhere in the office."

"So are we going to break into the school to see who broke in before us or what?"

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee.


	12. Late Night Theft

When Luke met with Jess to break into the school, Danny and Daisy were there as well. He had to owe that to Jessica because they couldn't know about this otherwise. Both of them were dressed in black hoodies like Luke and his girlfriend. Danny's hoodie was way too big and Luke was sure it was one of his. He was sure that he didn't want to know how he had gotten into his room while the window was still shut. Those skills might actually come in handy right now. Luke also wasn't going to make a joke about how Danny looked like a dwarf in his clothes and how it somehow looked really cute and how the thought of his clothes on his body made him smile.

"So,” Jessica started, "Fury's office is right across from the big oak tree."

"The windows aren't secured by the alarm system; only those in the ground level,” Daisy added.

"How do you--?” Danny started and Daisy winked at him.

Luke shouldn't be jealous but he sort of was.

Daisy grinned, "I broke into the school once before. You remember the pizza we had in the cafeteria a few weeks ago?"

All of them nodded in unison. How could you forget?

"You can thank me for that. I hacked into the system back then.

"Wow,” Danny was impressed. Somehow Luke had the feeling that this was mostly because of Daisy's super power to turn borderline poisonous cafeteria food into edible meals than due to her hacking skills.

"Okay Cage's four, up the tree and I'll open the window.” Jessica smiled wickedly as she walked ahead.

As he followed her, Luke wondered if she was drunk. It might not make a difference. He made a mental reminder to ask her about that because he was actually worried about her health.

One of the things Luke had never been good at was climbing. He was athletic and strong he could throw wide passes and when there was no receiver in a decent enough position he could run himself. But he couldn't remember the last time he had climbed a tree.

Jessica was moving a lot more elegantly than he had expected.

Danny was like a cat.

Daisy was all quick motion and grace.

And he had to use his strength and the motivation to clear his name to make it to the branch where the others were waiting.

"Wow. Super athlete." Jess smirked.

"He doesn't climb trees.” Danny was faster to defend him than Luke.

"What he said."

"That's a lame ass excuse. Daisy?” Jess asked.

"I'm just here for the semi-legal shit. I don't want to get messed up into any relationship drama."

"I don't do semi-legal” the other girl replied.

"Fine. Illegal."

Luke shook his head as he climbed the last few feet. Fucking trees.

Danny smiled gently and offered him his hand. Luke was surprised of the strength behind the pull. If he was being honest he wasn't sure why exactly. Maybe because Danny was so thin or because he had seen these wrists open and bloody. The thought sent cold shivers down his spine and he pushed it out of his head.

"Speaking of relationship,” Jess started quickly. Luke let go of Danny's ridiculously warm hand.  _Please no._ "What would Murdock think of you engaging in illegal activities?"

Daisy froze, "Why... why should anyone here care?"

"We all know that you actually care. This isn't meant as a threat. It's just an insurance that you won't let anything about that slip."

Luke was sure that the other girl was slightly blushing in the dark as she nodded "I feel insulted but I appreciate the absolute cold you show."

Jessica laughed, "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Luke would be lying if he would claim that the girls weren't scaring the shit out of him.

Jessica climbed ahead on the branch, pulled out a set of lock picks, and opened the windows. Thankfully Mid Town High was a fairly old school. It used to be some sort of military related building and not all of it was properly renovated. It was ironic that the office of the director was here in the older area.

With silent thumping noises, the kids landed on the ground inside one after the other.

"Wait with the flashlights!” Jessica ordered. 

Luke nodded. The moon was on the other side of the school building and it was so dark that Luke couldn't even see his own hand. Danny was right next to him Luke wondered how he knew that before he realized that he could tell because of his soft and even breath. He remembered it from the night he had spent at his place.  _And from his dream._

Before he could think about it he heard the sound of blinds closing.

"Okay we're clear,” Jessica stated.

He could feel someone grab his ass and then Jessica turned on her flashlight wickedly grinning "I would say sorry it was so dark but I knew exactly where you were. And I like your ass."

"Eww,” Daisy said as she turned on her flashlight.

Luke turned on the flashlight function of his phone and Danny shrugged in the dim light of it.

"My phone's too crappy, sorry."

Luke was thankful that neither Daisy nor Jess were being a-holes about it and he shrugged, "Just stay in my light it will be fine."

Danny smiled, "Thanks."

With Jessica touching him softly on the back and Danny smiling brightly at him, Luke felt warm on the inside. His head was somehow spinning not sure on which sensation he should focus on. There was the smile that was like a ray of sunshine in the dark. Innocent, yet fighting against darkness and demons as well as the reassuring hold on his back, not really steady or warm but somehow still reliable strong and definitely affectionate. Danny was like a delicate flower, fragile and pretty. Jessica was like an ocean, powerful and mysterious.

  
Before Luke could wonder why he was comparing the two inside of his head, his phone rang.

"Oh come on,” Daisy tilted her head.

"It's okay,” Jess grinned, "Take the call. Might save us trouble. I'll give curly some light."

Luke nodded thankfully and instinctively wandered towards a corner of a room to answer the call.

"Hey,” Claire.

"Uhhm, hi. Do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah, and I'm sorry but... there's something that's been keeping me awake and... I need to talk."

These words never meant anything good. On the other hand Claire had already broken up and she couldn't be pregnant, not with Luke's kid at least.

"What is it?"

"You and Jessica are dating right?"

Luke turned towards the raven-haired girl who was reading through files.

"Yes. I mean kinda... Why?"

She sighed "You know that this ex of mine, Mike, that he cheated on me. And I really don't want anyone else to feel this way, the way I did."

"Claire what is it?"

"Do you like Jessica?"

"Yes."

He could hear her sigh again at the other end of the line "I thought so, because you looked at her that way."

"Claire, how do you know that I like her just because of that?"

"Because once you looked at me like that. But why do you look at Danny that exact same way?"

Luke could feel his breath catching in his throat he looked over at Danny and Jess, "What do you mean?"

"They both deserve better than to be just one part of a love triangle."

"Claire it's not--"

She made that classic Claire Temple sigh and hung up.

Luke remained in his corner a few moments.

"Are you okay?” Danny asked, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Or talked to one,” Daisy added.

"It's just,” he sighed, "it's nothing important."

"Does it have anything to do with this?” Jessica asked opening another file.

"No."

"Was it something with CPS?” Danny asked, and while the light of the lights wasn't directed at his face Luke could hear the horror in his voice.

"No."

Maybe Luke should have said yes. He could have asked Danny to return home. It was egoistic and cruel but he was afraid that Claire had been right. As always. He’d had a crush on Danny, he wasn't sure for how long. Maybe it had started with the dream, maybe before,  but there was no denying that as much as he wanted to now. And Claire had also been right with another thing, both Jess and Danny deserved better. Hell, Danny had a girlfriend himself and what if he didn't feel the same way about Luke? Besides, Luke really liked Jess and Luke wasn't just sure if Danny sleeping at his place wasn't the wrong way to handle this.

"Jackpot!” Jess screamed a bit too loud for Luke's taste and interrupted his thoughts.

Jessica was standing there grinning proudly, holding an open file, "Here's a list with the codes for all of the lockers."

"Wow,” Danny moved over towards her.

"So much power.” Luke heard her whisper silently and he could see her eyes scanning the pages taking in as much information as possible. Somehow it made Luke grin fondly.

"Fury really is a dinosaur if he keeps that stuff in files and not digitally,” Daisy grinned.

Luke shrugged "Maybe it's both. However, does that really help much? I mean, yes the file existed. So?"

"Well... I picked the file for a reason. The dust on it was rubbed off. There were some files with no dust on it the financial stuff and mine and Daisy's for example, the troublemakers. Then there are some with a lot of dust, personal files and the boring guys like your ex. There are few with little dust rubbed away, which suggests that they weren't pulled out on a regular basis but just recently, you, Danny and this one here."

"Still doesn't prove much."

"At least we know that this file exists. That's something. It's better than what we knew before this little trip."

"I’m sorry, it's just--"

"No problem,” Danny placed a warm hand on his shoulder "Let's go home."

 _Let's go home._ Not ‘Let's get you home’ or ‘Let's get out of here.’

Luke thought about these words when he followed his friends and girlfriend outside. He let the others go ahead when he saw something in the dim moonlight. A piece of fabric was hanging on a branch of the tree. Luke took a picture with his phone before he ripped it away and followed his friends down. Just like when climbing, he was not nearly as graceful as them.

"What is it football star? Problem with following gravity too?” Jess chuckled teasingly.

"Look what I found,” Luke held out the red piece of cotton.

"Up there?” Danny asked.

"Yes. Does that belong to one of you?"

Jess sighed "In case you missed it, we're all wearing black."

"Does any of you wear a red shirt underneath?” Luke was surprised that he wasn't losing patience.

"No,” Daisy replied.

Jess grinned, "All black."

"Like your soul,” the other girl added and Jess smiled proudly.

"No,” Danny answered after them.

Luke nodded, "Me neither. Then this is from someone else who climbed up into Fury's office."

"I don't think there's a chance this would still be here if it was too long ago,” Daisy concluded.

"Yeah,” Jess smiled, "So whoever this belongs to, he broke into the office and most likely also set you up."

There was no other real explanation. Kids weren't allowed to climb the tree in the breaks, teachers took care of that.

Luke nodded. He took a few steps so that he was covered by the branch of the tree and turned on his phone flashlight.

The fabric was high quality cloth, and Luke knew exactly which kind of shirt this had been. He had worn it on an almost daily basis until he had been suspended.

"Guys, the person who set me up... He's from the football team."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, all the love for @Casy_Dee!   
> <3


	13. Choices

"So do you suspect anyone in particular?” Danny asked as he settled down on Luke's bed next to him.

Luke flinched at the comfortable heat his body radiated, "One guy I think who is behind it anyway."

Danny rolled his eyes, "And that would be?"

"Willis Stryker."

"Right... your backup?"

"Yeah."

Danny sighed, "Well that makes sense."

"Maybe you can watch him tomorrow at school?"

"I'm at court tomorrow."

He was what? "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"We were kind of busy."

"That's really early for a hearing, though.” Luke massaged his temples, trying to fix all of this mess. If the jury wouldn't believe Danny, his problem with Stryker would become drastically unimportant by tomorrow.

"CPS pushed for this and cases involving kids have higher priorities anyway. I can ask Colleen to watch Stryker if that's why you're upset."

"This isn't about Stryker. It's about tomorrow deciding whether you will be in prison or not! Actually, right now I don't care about your girlfriend watching him or not. No, I do because she should be there with you and me."

Danny had flinched a little and Luke was immediately sorry; his stress wasn't his fault, the kid was trying his best.

"She can't come. Her orphanage is directly contacted by Fury when one of the kids isn't there and they take no apologies. She would be in big, big, trouble. She wanted to come anyway but I begged her not to. I don't want to be responsible for the kind of punishment she would get."

"I'm sorry."

Danny shrugged "I know. Should I ask her about Stryker?"

"Why not?"

Luke watched as Danny pulled out his phone and texted, "She'll only see it tomorrow. You know because..."

"Because they take the phone away, yeah. But tomorrow morning will be soon enough."

Danny nodded and snuggled up a little to Luke.

He felt guilty that such an innocent gesture that was only meant to comfort made him want to feel Danny's hot skin under his lips.

"You need a suit,” he gently shoved Danny off of him and tried to get back into conversation so that he had something to focus on.

"What?"

"For court tomorrow. You should dress fancy."

"Oh. Do you...?"

Luke lifted himself up from the bed and walked over towards his wardrobe. There must be some stuff from one of the school dances quite some time ago. With a little luck Danny would fit. 

Luke found the stuff somewhere in the back of his wardrobe and threw it over his shoulder towards Danny.

To his surprise, Danny was already in his boxers for the little dress rehearsal and Luke needed to figure out if it was more suspicious to turn around or to look aimlessly around his room. He settled for the second option.

"You think this is okay?” Danny asked after a few moments and Luke was happy to look back at him.

The shirt fit him fine around the chest but the arms were a tad bit too long. It looked adorable and could be easily fixed by rolling up the sleeves. The pants had the same problem, but they could also apply the same solution. All in all, it could be a lot worse.

"You look fine."

Danny smiled happily and sat back down in the bed, "I just remembered that you forgot something today,” he raised his small calendar and rolled up the sleeves "Tadaa."

Luke grinned and pulled out his little sheet with the stickers on it. Today’s motive was a heart. They got to be kidding him.

"What is it?” Danny asked as Luke hesitated.

"Nothing... I uhmm nothing."

Luke sighed and put the sticker on yesterday’s date.

Danny grinned put the calendar away and went back to snuggling against Luke.

It wasn't a conscious action. It just happened. Luke had never experienced something like this unless it had been an action solely rooted on instinct, but for some reason he couldn't do anything about it as he placed his hands on Danny's cheeks and pulled him up in for a kiss. He couldn't stop it, not that he  _really_ wanted to, it was like a movie playing in front of his eyes. And Danny opening up and wrapping his arms around him was as if somebody had turned up the volume so that the movie could fully embrace him.

Then all of the sudden Danny pulled away. The movie was over and their eyes met in shock.

Danny jumped up from the bed stumbled backwards and before Luke could react he had vanished out of the window.

Luke followed him still in his pajamas but as he reached the street Danny was already nowhere to be seen.

 

* * *

 

 

He had been stupid. Luke knew it. He had a girlfriend, Danny had a girlfriend, and... and... he shouldn't have done that.  
He was searching the streets of New York for his best friend in his pajamas late at night. It wasn't a good place for Danny. Luke wasn't sure if he had always lived in rich neighborhoods but he was sure that he wasn't prepared for some of the people roaming these streets at night. Luke wished that he wasn't so tired. He hadn't slept for hours and it was starting to show.

  
Maybe he could call Jessica and ask her to call Danny and talk to him? No. Danny's phone must still be at Luke's. He needed to organize this search differently. If he was Danny, confused and maybe scared because of the hearing tomorrow, where would he go? His foster parents home? Probably not. Too much trouble to explain and too much trauma. Nowhere near the school, too. Maybe Colleen's orphanage? But he had wanted to keep her out of his trouble and if they really were that strict they would lose their shit over a boy sneaking in there. He wouldn't do that to her.

"Danny?” Luke knew that it was stupid to scream his name. Danny was running  _from_ him if anything he was lowering his chances. But he was so damn desperate.

"Danny please! We need to talk!"

Somewhere a window opened and an elder lady screamed down at Luke, "Can't you punks shut up for one goddamn night? People are trying to sleep up here!"

Luke ignored her. Somewhere in the distance a police siren went off and Luke was even more worried now. Not that he thought it was directed at Danny, but suddenly he saw flashing pictures of Danny lying in a pool of blood, or being ganged up on by some wanna-be thugs. He had heard terrible stories of killers and human traffickers. He bet that most of them were just made up by high schoolers to scare each other, or by their parents to keep the kids off the street at night, but what if there was some truth to it? What if someone saw Danny in his suit and stabbed him hoping for money despite his age, or if some mob gangster saw him and his beautiful blond curls and thought that maybe some creepy pervert pedophile might pay well for him?

"Danny! Please! Come home, I'm so sorry!"

 _Come home._  Come to me!

"I didn't mean to. We can figure this out!"

"Oh shut up!” someone shouted from another opened window.

No he wouldn't. He needed to find Danny even if it took him the whole night to do so. The problem was that he could have been walking the right direction this whole time without knowing and it drove him mad.  He tried the "old" method again, where would you go? It was cold, so maybe some place warm and sheltered. A place that was open this whole time for people. He didn't expect Danny to seek a homeless shelter. Maybe a diner or a burger shop that had opened all night. Wait. This could be it. Their favorite place had opened 24/7 and Danny had went there before with Luke and the others. It was safe and warm and he could buy something to eat, if he had any money with him. Luke was still certain that they would allow him in there anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

"Hi,” Luke gently placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. The little boy was sitting there with his back turned towards the door. He flinched a little at the sudden touch.

"I'm sorry,” Danny looked down at his shoes, "I shouldn't have--"

"No. It's not your fault,” Luke sat down on the other side of the table trying to meet Danny's eyes which was pretty hard since he was trying to avoid him, "I kissed you."

"The thing is..."

"There's no thing,” Luke whispered calmly "I'm sorry okay? It was a mistake it was just the whole stress and--"

"I liked it,” Danny avoided Luke's gaze, "I liked kissing you. The same way I like kissing Colleen... And I... I like you the same way I like Colleen and, it's not the same way I like other friends like Daisy."

Luke smiled softly, "It's, it's the same with me. I've been wanting to do this in a way. And I like you but I also like Jessica. We can figure this out okay? But running away is not an option you need to be in court in?"

"In four hours,” Danny finished.

"In four hours. Jesus” Luke looked out of the window, the morning was already beginning, the first rays of sun illuminating the streets. Danny's blond curls looked golden in the orange light. His blue eyes were piercing through him. He was so different from Jessica with her dark hair that almost reflected every color of the light, and her dark and deep eyes. How could Luke feel so oddly similar for two so different people. He had crushes while being in a relationship, but this was different. He wasn't crushing. He was feeling the same way for two people. Suddenly he remembered the stupid donkey and his fucking stupid two stacks of hay. What if he was a stupid donkey and Jess and Danny were his stacks of hay?

"I'm sorry for running away,” Danny whispered.

"You had me worried, I have to admit that."

"I'm so sorry."

Luke smiled fondly. Ever since he met Danny for the first time, he had worried about him. Back in the bathroom when he had laid there with his wrist opened up.

"Just promise me to try your best to not worry me again."

He smiled, "I promise."

"Good,” Luke laughed.

"Luke?” Danny whispered all of the sudden.

"What is it?"

Danny sighed, "I'm scared of the hearing. I don't want to go to prison."

"I'm sure you won't."

"And what if they put me back?"

"I'm pretty sure they can't."

"Or if they take me away from New York, take me away from you and Colleen."

Luke sighed... He hadn't really thought about that. It wasn't unheard of that children could be brought to orphanages or foster families in other regions or states. The thought of knowing that Danny was somewhere with strangers and without either him or Collen was so damn scary. He was a troubled but good kid and he needed someone to take care of him. Someone to ground him and remind him of his own worth. Because Danny was an amazing human being and he deserved a family who appreciated and loved him for his personality and not his name or other reasons Luke didn't want to think about. Every damn family in the whole country should feel honored to have someone as pure and kind as Danny in their family. Danny Rand deserved some happiness and Luke would make a statement in front of the court if he had to.

But he needed to calm him down. "I'm sure that we will get through this. I don't think they'll put you somewhere away from the place you've been before. I mean to a different family but not out of the city. No offense, but you are mentally unstable and troubled. The people working for CPS are too smart and experienced to take a kid like you away from home."

Danny sighed, "Maybe."

"Do you think we should head home and see if we can catch a few hours of sleep?"

"I don't think that I can. I'm really excited. I don't like speaking in front of people, and the jury decides my whole future. My freedom and my future with Colleen and with you."

Luke smiled and reached over the table kindly wrapping his hand around Danny's, "You'll do fine because you are telling the truth and you have a kind and charming heart. You'll easily win them over."

Surprisingly, Danny squeezed a little tighter, " I hope so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you,@Casy_Dee <3


	14. Under Oath

 

Before the hearing began, Danny turned around and gave Luke an uplifting smile.

He was sitting next to his lawyer Jeri Hogarth, a middle-aged woman with severe short hair and a stoic expression that only changed when she turned and talked to Danny. Danny was charged with mayhem. The main goal was to prove that Danny had acted in self-defense; hurting his foster father was strictly out of instinct.

  
Hogarth had told him that their chances were decent. They did not have any proof of Danny being touched by his foster father in the past, and therefore, no definite evidence that Danny was in a situation where he had to defend himself, but he was a kid, which granted him a decent chance with the jury.

The judge was an elder man with a grim look and the prosecutor looked at Danny with a stern face... as if he had beat him up personally.

"So now we're starting the hearing in the people versus Daniel Thomas Rand,” the judge’s voice thundered through the hall.

Everyone in the room stood up and Luke could see Danny fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket.

The prosecution spoke, "This kid, as innocent as he may look--"

Luke could see Danny's lawyer raising a brow.

"Has brutally beat up and seriously injured the very man who took him into his house and swore to protect and shelter him. The people who bought him food, clothes, and school material. I know that the kid has been through a lot, I don't doubt that ladies and gentlemen of the jury, but this brutal and beastly assault was not born from any psychological disease. This boy is depressed, but he doesn't suffer from any diagnosed personality illnesses like schizophrenia or paranoia."

The prosecutor gave a long pause, " But to give you a better image of the beast that hides behind this boyish façade, I call in the man he assaulted, Herb Osborn."

Police officers led in the man Luke identified as Danny's foster father. He had short red hair that was mostly gray, only a shadow of the former color hinted at its original shade. His face was black and blue, his nose looked broken, and some of the man's teeth were missing. Osborn was looking at Danny as if he was the personation of true evil and Luke could see Danny flinching and looking at the ground. Hogarth leaned over and whispered something. Danny seemed to do his best to face Osborn after that.

"Mr. Osborn,” the prosecutor started, " What do you remember from the night we are discussing here?"

"I went to Danny's room to check on him. I thought I heard something and I wanted to see if he was alright. The kid has a lot of nightmares and I wanted to wake him. When I entered his room he was lying still in his bed."

"And you still wanted to see?"

"Yes. I was sure that I heard something..."

"What happened then?"

"I stepped closer to his bed and all of the sudden he jumped at me and started punching."

The prosecutor let the words hang in the air and it took a few moments before he continued, "And what did you think?"

"That he would... would punch until... I don't know, forever."

"That sounds like a lot of rage inside of a small boy."

"We treated him with respect... I don't know where that came from."

Luke could see Danny's knuckles turning white.

_Calm down._

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

"That would be it."

The judge nodded and gave Jeri a nod, "Does the defense have any questions for the witness?"

Jeri nodded and pointed a stern glare at Mr. Osborn, "What do you say about your foster son and his accusations."

"I have never touched Danny."

Danny swallowed and Luke could see Jeri hold a hand in front of his chest. He wondered if the Jury had seen the way Danny flinched at it.

"Then how do you explain these statements?"

"He needs something to defend himself and appear like the victim in this."

_That's because he **is**  the victim you son of a bitch._

"But that would require a lot of hate from a teenage boy."

"I don't know, kids this age are weird."

Jeri sighed "Is Danny your first foster child?"

"Yes."

"And you don't have a child of your own or a step child?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"My own experience?"

"Danny tried to kill himself a few months ago. You didn't visit him at the hospital."

"Objection!” the prosecutor stated, "That's irrelevant to this case!"

Hogarth grinned devilishly, "It's relevant to the relationship between Danny and Mr. Osborn."

"Continue,” the judge nodded.

Luke couldn't help but smirk at the way the prosecutor looked at that.

_Drag him Hogarth._

"I was at work."

"For a week? And what about your wife?"

"We had a lot of stuff going on."

"More important than your foster child attempting suicide and being in dire need of emotional support afterwards? And on top of that Danny has cut himself for months prior to that and you never took any action."

"He never told us."

Hogarth laughed, "You are his guardian and obliged to protect him. You should have known."

Osborn sat there in silence.

"I don't have any additional questions. I think the jury has had a great view of Mr. and Mrs. Osborn’s parenting skills."

The judge nodded, "Okay. The next witness is the defendant, Daniel Thomas Rand."

Luke watched as Danny stepped up and sat down. He gave him an encouraging smile and he could swear that he saw a happy flicker in his eyes at that.

"Mr. Rand, would you please describe what happened that night?” Jeri smiled.

"I... I couldn't sleep and so I was just lying in my bed."

"So you were awake?” 

"Yes. Then I heard steps and I got scared."

"You were in panic?"

"Kin- I think so. It's... my foster father has touched me before and... and that night I mean the evening, he looked at me weird. And he was coming to my room at night."

"So you punched him?"

"No, not then. I waited. I mean, he could have just come in for whatever reason but then--" Danny's voice broke and Luke had to fight with his temper to not run up towards him and embrace the younger boy.

"Then?"

Danny cleared his throat "I'm sorry. He uhhm he--" Luke could see Danny looking over the jury and then back towards Luke.

The judge smiled softly, "Should we clear the room of everyone except you, the jury,your lawyer, the prosecution, and me?"

Luke couldn't see how it would make a big difference. Apart from those people, the only observers were him and Danny's foster mom, who sat as far away from Luke as possible. He was sure that Danny actually wanted him to be there.

"No... uhm... it's okay... it's just..."

"Your honor. Can we get to the point?” God, Luke hated the prosecutor so much.

The judge seemed to share Luke's opinion and glared at the man, " We're talking about possible sexual abuse here, let’s give the kid some time."

Danny nodded slowly "He... he reached under my blanket and slid his hand into my pants and--"

"Did he go any further than that? When was the moment you defended yourself?"

"When he had his fingers in my pants I mean... he didn't touch me... there..."

_My poor boy._

Jeri smiled softly, "And do you think he would have?

"Yes."

"So describe the  _conflict_  itself."

"I was scared and angry. So I punched him until I was sure that he couldn't hurt or abuse me."

"Thank you,” Hogarth smiled.

Next up, the prosecutor had to ask Danny, and damn Luke was worried.

"So let's get back to the  _abuse._ "

Danny swallowed, "Yes."

"Do you have any proof that what you're telling us here actually happened.

"No."

"So you could be making all of this up?"

"I'm not."

That evil smirk was back, "That didn't answer my question."

"Yes.” Danny sighed and raised his hand in defeat.

"Let's go on to the beating."

Danny nodded and looked at Luke, big blue eyes pleading for emotional support.

"You said that you were scared and angry, what feeling was the more you know present?"

Danny sighed "Uhhmm... I don't know. Maybe anger? I mean I was scared, but more than anything I was angry."

"Why is that?"

"Because I let him touch me for quite some time casually and I never told anyone and... I thought that he should be kind of thankful for me not telling. I guess I hoped that this was some sort of deal some kind of protection or guarantee that he wouldn't do anything worse to me. And I told no one about it and he still goes further and... I don't know if that all makes any sense it probably doesn't."

The prosecutor nodded and scribbled something down. "Another question and I swear it will be the last for the hearing, Why didn't you stop? Your foster father was clearly knocked out earlier but you continued the beating, why?"

"I... I don't know. As I said, there was so much fear and anger. I was kinda in a rush. I remember that I was shivering and in tears when I was pulled off him."

"Thank you."

 

 

* * *

 

 

After the final plea, Luke waited alongside Danny and Hogarth. Danny called Colleen while Luke had been squeezing his hand. It had needed a few moments to dawn on both of them how weird and morally shady that was. But at that time, it had just felt right. Danny was playing cool, but it wasn't hard to see that since his statement he was barley holding it together. Danny had been both bullied and sexually abused while Luke had been looking away. The thought almost knocked the breath out of him. The guilt at that thought was almost unbearable.

The parties were being called back in fairly early. A member of the jury, a middle aged black woman, stood up and read their decision.

_"We the jury consider Daniel Rand not guilty..."_

Time just stopped after the words. Luke could see Danny hugging Jeri, who seemed unimpressed by the gesture before he hurried towards Luke and threw himself into his arms. Hot tears soaked his shirt as Luke let out a breath he hadn't even been aware of holding. He buried his big hands inside of the blond curls and breathed the other boy in. When he pulled away from the hug he realized that the whole room was staring while everyone was packing their stuff. Luke didn't give a shit. He understood something along the lines that Mr. Osborn would be charged for child abuse and that Danny would be required to state that again. For now, that was a distant future and Luke gave no shit about it right now. It didn't matter today. What mattered was that Danny was free and that he could hold him in his arms.

Jeri pulled them aside once the room was cleared, "Hate to interrupt this whatever it is... but there is still the matter of your accommodations."

"Still nothing?” Danny asked with a lot of hurt in his voice.

"There is an orphanage upstate..."

"I don't want to leave the city."

"I know but--"

"He can stay with me. He already has and..."

"We would need a permission from your parents.” Hogarth smiled knowingly and something in Luke was sure that she knew that they had kept Danny secret from his parents.

As if he could read his mind Danny smiled, "How do you--?"

"A little birdie told me. I know a lot of things."

"I'm an adult,” Luke interrupted, "Why can't I just sign it?"

"It's not that easy."

"Give us a few days to tell my parents and give us an okay... please. Don't let them take him upstate don't send him away."

"Three days,” Hogarth sighed.

"Okay,” Danny nodded.

"I'll take it,” Luke shrugged.

"Okay then, don't do anything stupid. I'll see you boys in three days."

"Thanks, Miss Hogarth,” Danny waved.

"And Danny” the lawyer turned around "I hope it works out in your favor."

"Thanks.” Danny smiled and he and Luke looked after Hogarth as she left.

"She's kinda nice,” Luke whispered.

"I guess."

"I'm really happy that you're free,” Luke whispered and gently touched Danny's arm.

"Me too. Now we just have to ensure that you'll stay free too and that stuff."

Luke sighed, "I think there's something else we have to take care of first."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee is the best beta <3


	15. Two Stacks of Hay

 It was late afternoon when Luke and Danny sat at their favorite diner waiting for their girlfriends.

"This is gonna be a disaster," Luke sighed.

"They deserve to know that... whatever happened."

"I know. But the fact that we have to tell them doesn't mean it will be less painful to do so."

"Yeah."

Luke turned as the door opened and the two girls came in talking. He exchanged one glance with Danny. This was happening and damn, he was scared.

"Hey there," Colleen grinned and gave Danny a kiss, "Congratulations on winning. I'm so proud."

Luke smiled softly. They were cute together. It helped he didn't feel jealous at all.

Jess gave Luke a gentle slap on his thigh. Her opinion on PDA changed from day to day.

"So you guys found out anything new about the drug thing or are we just here to celebrate Curly not going to prison?" Jessica smiled and opened the menu. Luke was sure that she already knew what to order anyway. The same as always.

"Not really," Danny answered nervously.

Luke nodded "Yeah."

"Ugh, please tell me this isn't a double date. Because Yikes." Jess grimaced.

Colleen tilted her head, "What is it?"

"You need to know that you are very important to me." Danny took Colleens hand and Luke gave Jess a nod that indicated the same. 

"You guys fucked," Jess smirked.

Luke spat out his water and Danny turned red.

Colleen and Jessica burst out laughing.

"We... we didn't... uhm, we kissed." Luke expected a slap.

"I'm so sorry," Danny whispered.

To the boys’ surprise, both of the girls just looked at each other and shrugged.

"We figured that," Colleen smirked.

"Even Matt could see that you two are close and not in the  _'no-homo-bro'_  kinda way," Jessica smirked, "kinda cute to be honest."

Danny looked at Luke, "Why didn't you...?"

"Break up?" Jess asked.

Danny nodded.

"Well, frankly I don't care. I like Luke. I have the feeling he likes me, and he's good in bed." Jess smirked at Danny who turned as red as a tomato.

"We talked a few days ago at school. We can see that you two like each other but we also know that you like us. Neither of us is the jealous type, anyway, so we just figured that as long as we all actually like each other and it's okay for everyone involved, we could try to make this work without anyone having to hide obvious feelings." Colleen shrugged.

"Sooooo, just like that?" Luke raised a brow.

"I guess we  _do_  need rules," Colleen nodded.

"We get a free pass," Jess grinned.

Colleen looked at her, "I wouldn't call it that... I would say if we have feelings for someone we are allowed to be with them too."

"But the other person should know that you have someone else," Danny said.

"Sure."

"Also since we were first, Colleen and I can call dibs on booty calls."

Colleen tilted her head, "Or dates."

Luke could see Jessica roll her eyes.

"Sounds fair." Luke nodded and looked at Danny and then Jess.

"That would be about it," Jessica smiled, "Deal?"

"Deal."

"Deal."

"Deal."

There was a fairly awkward moment of silence before Jess tilted her head, "So who of you gets to pop Danny's cherry?"

Danny almost choked on his coke and Colleen was quick to look at the ground while Luke elbowed his girlfriend in the ribs.

"What?" Jessica smirked "I can recommend Luke. He's good in bed, can't speak for her."

"Can we... not?" Danny mumbled.

Luke nodded, "Too far Jes,s too far..."

Jessica shrugged, "If you think so."

"Yes." Luke said.

"Okay... So after you broke down the  _'big news'_  on us, we have found out something, as well, courtesy of Matt and Daisy," Colleen smiled.

"Speaking of big news..."

"Jess!" Colleen continued, "Anyway, turns out that Daisy's father works for the police or something and he knows someone who works for the drug task force here in New York. She asked around a little, used those big puppy eyes, and it turns out that the drugs found in your locker were branded with the mark of the Chaste cartel. The friend of Daisy's dad has contacts to the inside."

"Daisy is trying her best to ask for information concerning buyers of the amount of heroin the police found in your locker. If we are lucky we can use the yearbook to identify Stryker or at least maybe prove your innocence," Jessica grinned.

"That's great," Danny reached for Luke's hand and squeezed. Jess looked at them with a knowing smile.

He let go of Danny's hand, "Although it sounds like a lot of that depends on Daisy charming her father."

"Coulson loves her to the moon and back. It's only a matter of time," Colleen soothed.

"Good. Then let's hope this works out or I'm screwed. I mean we found a strip of a football jersey while breaking into an office isn't exactly something that will help me in the long run."

"It will work," Colleen and Jessica answered in unison.

"Thank you again," Luke whispered quietly, "I mean seriously without you guys I would be screwed."

"We care about you." Colleen smiled as she looked at Danny and Jess, "We all do."

Jessica reached for his hand and Danny's foot gently caressed his lower leg. Luke could feel that weird warm feeling building inside of his stomach. This was real. Even though it was weird, this was a thing now. It was his thing.

"So we were so caught up in all of this I forget to ask, do you have a place to stay now?" Colleen tilted her head and looked at Danny.

_Right._

Luke had completely forgotten that this might not last not if Danny would be taken away.

"We... I'm gonna stay with Luke for now but we need to talk to his parents. I need an actual place to stay..."

"Or...?" Colleen was too clever to not hear the underlying fear in Danny's voice.

"Or they'll have to take me out of the state."

"Shit," Jessica mouthed.

Colleen reached for Danny's hand, "How...how likely is it? Luke?"

Luke shrugged, "I mean, we are poor. My room's small, and we have no extra room to spare."

"Well, shit. You're screwed then."

"Jess," Luke looked over at Colleen snuggling up against Danny.

"What. Sugarcoating it won't help."

"Hi... uhmm... can I take your orders?" Daisy tapped Luke on his shoulder.

"Yeah, um, hi Daisy. I'm gonna take fries with garlic dip."

"A Chicken Burger for me," Danny sighed.

"Onion Rings," Jess shoved the menu towards Colleen.

"A Hot Dog without pickles."

"Thank you. Danny, everything went alright, I guess?"

Danny nodded, "Thanks Daisy."

The waitress bit her lip and squeezed Danny's shoulder, "I'll see if I can get it with my employee discount for you."

"You don't have to."

"Nah, no big deal." She turned around before any of the group could protest.

"She's nice," Colleen remarked.

"Want to make use of your free pass right away?" Jess smirked

Colleen rolled her eyes, "No I mean Murdock is gonna be lucky boy once he gets his head out of his ass."

Luke smiled knowingly and gave Danny a pat on his back, "Did you know?"

"Not really."

"Damn, you are really cute," Colleen grinned.

"And oblivious," Jess and Luke added together.

"Ohh, come on."

"Hey, you just have poor people skills," Jess smirked, "Not everyone can have it like I do."

"At least I have social skills."

Luke was really happy that Jess didn't say something about Danny being bullied with his  _social skills,_ instead, she just tilted her head, "How?"

"I'm nice and charming."

"Debatable."

"I charmed Colleen and Luke."

Colleen nodded, "Fair point."

"I guess," Luke grinned.

"Soooo," Daisy appeared from behind Luke with a giant tray, "Fries with  _extra_  garlic dip." she winked at Luke.

"Thanks."

"Don't you have a little something for the girl that has to kiss him after?" Jess grinned.

"Onion Rings." Daisy set the plate down.

"I meant liquid something."

"If you pay me after I get fired for serving booze to underage, sure."

"Downer."

"So Danny, here's your Chicken Burger."

"Thank you."

"And a hotdog for Colleen, without any pickles or snot from our cook on it."

"You're an angel."

Daisy smiled and turned around to take the orders from the table next to them, "I know."

"Something I've been wondering about," Jessica started, in the middle of their silence during the meal, "Do we all sleep together eventually? Like a three or foursome?"

"Jess," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, don't pretend that you haven't thought about it yet, I mean we're all gorgeous."

"There she is right," Colleen grinned and nudged Danny in his side.

 

* * *

 

 

On the way back, Danny and Luke debated if it would be smarter to talk to Luke's parents now or wait at least a bit. Danny was right, they would need some time to consider, but the mood back home was still terrible due to the drug thing and it was just a mess all around. In the end, they decided that Luke would go ahead and check out the mood in there. He would see how his parents were doing, and if they seemed okay, Danny would knock at the door and they would pretend that his homelessness just came up on accident or something.

Luke was scared, but this was something he had to do.

Luke shivered, but he needed to do this for Danny.

_Shit._

"Hi." He stated happily, although his parents were assembled around the kitchen table as if he was in for a big intervention.

"Hey, Luke." his Dad replied.

His mom took a deep breath, "We have to admit that we were a little too hard on you these last few days. We know you, and we know that you always hated drugs and criminals, but we were so damn worried, and disappointed, and scared. We just saw your whole future fading away. We're sorry."

This went almost too well. This was scarily perfect.

"It's okay. I understand you."

"We talked to the lawyer again and we found a school in Missouri--" Luke's Dad started

"You what?!"

"They have a great football team and need a quarterback for the rest of the season. They don't trust their backup and the main one is injured. They would take you despite the allegations, and if the charges are dropped, you still have a chance to go to college."

"I don't want to move away from here. I have friends here, my life is here."

"I'm sure we can discuss this."

_Knock-Knock_

Shit. Luke had asked Danny to wait underneath his window and knock if Luke didn't signal him to come in.

James Lucas Cage raised a brow "You wanna answer, boy?"

"I... uhhm, yeah."

Luke hurried towards the door opened it a slit, "Not a good moment right now."

"Why? Uhmmmm... doesn't matter. Just pretend that I'm a delivery guy at the wrong address or something. Then I'll--"

"Hey Luke who's your friend?" Luke's Mom smiled.

_Shit._

Then he had to do this now...

"This... uhm... is Danny. Can he come in?"

"We were just discussing something."

"Uhm..." Danny opened his mouth.

"Mom, please."

Luke hoped that his mom would invite Danny in. Dad would be a completely different beast to handle when it came to the convincing.

"Okay. He's a friend from school, I guess?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah I'm one year below Luke, and knew him a bit, but we only really became friends recently."

Luke raised a brow, surprised at Danny taking the initiative and being so smooth about it.

"Oohhh. How nice."

Luke's mom lead Danny back towards the kitchen Luke walking behind them.

"Who's the kid?" Luke's Dad asked.

"Danny a friend from school," Luke answered.

"Why are you here, kid? I mean no offense but it's almost nine pm. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"I... uhmm... wanted to visit Luke."

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?"

Luke almost rolled his eyes at his father's bluntness. It was weird how he was this empathic at his job and yet he could be such an a-hole back home. Maybe it was a bit of a balance thing he had to let out another side so that he could actually be like that at work. Maybe it was needed, but this didn't make it any less annoying.

"I... we were just hanging out at the diner."

Luke took a deep breath, better be blunt right now. "He needs to sleep here for a few days, and maybe even years."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee is the best beta, pass it on.


	16. A Shade of Purple

"Luke," his father glared at him, "What are you talking about?"

"Danny was taken away from his foster home and he might have to go to an orphanage far away and..."

"Luke, we're not even sure if you're gonna stay here. How can we be responsible for another kid that we don't even know?"

"Wait, what?!" Danny interrupted.

Luke ignored him, "Please?"

Luke's dad slammed his fist on the table, "We don't have the money, boy!"

"I'll get a job." Luke knew that a lousy school job wouldn't be helpful when it came to supporting another kid for at least two years, but it was better than nothing.

"Me too," Danny nodded.

"It's not so easy, honey," his mother whispered.

"Can he at least stay here for a night?"

"Luke."

"Please?" Danny joined in the begging.

"Okay," Luke's mother whispered.

"Etta!"

"It's just a few nights, James."

"Dad, you know what happens to kids like him on the street. You can prevent this."

"A few nights and nothing more?" His father sighed.

"Thank you," Luke nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Cage," Danny smiled kindly before he and Luke vanished to his room before Luke's parents could change their mind.

 

 

 

"Do you want to sleep in my bed?" Luke asked as Danny settled down on his pile of clothes.

"I... uhmm... I don't think I will fit in."

"We can squeeze."

Danny's face was priceless, "Relax we're not gonna fuck or anything. I just want you to be comfortable."

_And maybe be close to you._

Luke wanted to be close to him, but not for anything related to sex. They weren't ready yet. He wanted to hold Danny and to let him sleep in his comfortable warm and soft bed. He wanted Danny to feel better than a dog that had to sleep on the floor.

"Okay," Danny smiled as he blushed and climbed up next to Luke. They shuffled a little until they finally settled for a comfortable position. Arms wrapped around each other and chests pressed together. Luke was happy that he had blocked the door from his parents or this had the potential to turn into a disaster. Danny smelled like the soap at school where he had to shower but also like the grease of the diner and the mysterious odor of the streets of New York City.

"What do I smell like?" the question had escaped Luke's lips unwanted.

"Hmmm?"

"What do I smell like?" Luke repeated the question.

Danny laughed and pressed his nose tight against Luke's chest. It tickled pleasantly and Luke had to grin.

"Sweat... But not in a bad way. Coconut?"

"My shampoo."

"Ah. And... uhm... Bacon." he giggled.

"Hmm..."

"You smell good though. Like Luke. Like home." The last sentence was barely a whisper and Luke wasn't sure if he had been meant to hear it. Home. He liked it that Danny associated him or his smell with that. Home was where you felt loved and safe. Like you belong and like you are wanted. If he was that for Danny, Luke was happy, because in a way, even after the little time they had spent together Danny was just that to him too.

"I love your smell, too."

Love. Luke had always tried to be careful when he was using this word. He had used it for Claire and for Reva and it had led him to nothing but heartbreak and pain. But Danny was different not only in obvious ways. Danny was pure and innocent and precious. Not that his exes had been none of that but Luke had never seen that amount of these character traits united in a single person before. Like a pile of warm sunshine, puppies, and happiness. Luke was sure that he loved Danny and even loved Jess while she had a lack of these traits in a way.

Luke gently pressed a kiss against Danny's head, blond curls tickling his nose. He still smelled so good and just like Danny.

He could feel Danny's hand gently running down his arms.

Pulling Danny up a little to kiss his lips felt natural right now as did the feeling of Luke completely loosing himself in the kiss and the touch. Luke had expected to feel guilty even after the talk with Jess and Colleen but he didn't. This was nothing anyone should ever feel guilty about. The feeling of connectedness and just rightfulness. The feeling of being close to someone you love, to someone who means a lot to you.

Luke pulled Danny a little closer, so close that each and every part of their bodies were touching. So that Luke could feel him everywhere and take in his  _boyfriend’s (?)_ whole warmth and absorb it. Danny was like a damn oven and Luke loved his body heat. As he wrapped his arms around the other boy, he accidentally touched his wrists. No new scars but the guilt was still there tugging at Luke from the inside. He should have saved him earlier so that saving him hadn't been necessary. The guilt made Luke loosen his grip on him.

Eventually, the bad feeling faded and was replaced by the need to confirm himself that Danny was still here. With a sigh, Luke just pulled Danny up against his chest and closed his eyes to fall asleep with him in his arms.

 

 

 

Early in the morning, Luke got a call from Daisy. She asked him to meet at the diner along with the others. 

Luke called Jess and asked Danny if he wanted to skip school. He knew now that calling Colleen wouldn't be a big help, she would get into trouble if she skipped.

Jess agreed to meet and Danny had just one class today anyway. The boy still called the school's office and mumbled something along the lines of him having to meet CPS and stuff. Luke was a bit surprised that the school didn't request evidence but figured that by now people in there took pity on Danny and let it slide.

When Danny and Luke arrived at the diner, Daisy was already there with refreshments for each of them. Jess seemed to be late as always.

"Good morning. And believe me it really  _is_  good."

Luke smiled, relieved, "Your Dad gave in?"

"Few people can resist  _that_  face," she grimaced into a puppy face.

_Even when they can't see it._

"Good." Danny grinned and sat down gesturing for Luke to take a seat next to him.

"It's looking good as far as I know." Daisy smiled reassuringly, "If everything goes well you should get mail this week."

"I can't believe it's that easy after all. Why couldn't this have been done right away?"

"The evidence seemed clear. Police is low on staff, and time is money." Daisy shrugged, "Dad hates it too, but he can't do shit about it either."

"What's important is that everything's gonna be alright," Danny smiled.

_Not everything, but you know that too._

"Hey guys," Jess hurried inside. Something was off. She seemed upset which was atypical for her. Annoyed? Yes. Upset? Nope.

"Hi." Daisy looked baffled too.

The only one who didn't seem to notice it was Danny. "Good morning. Luke will be proven innocent, Daisy just told us."

For a moment her worried facade disappeared, and she genuinely smiled, "That's great... But... uhm... Luke, can we talk outside for a second?"

"Uhhm..."

"I promise we’re not breaking up?" she offered.

"Okay," he nodded at Danny and Daisy before he followed his girlfriend out of the diner.

Jessica waited a moment, and then sighed, "Man this is weird awkward whatever but there is no easy way to say this."

"Sounds like breaking up to me."

"Very Funny. You know this guy I dated before you?"

"Kevin?"

"Yeah Kevin."

"I... He... he. I broke up because he was possessive. He followed me around he wanted to know where I was. He needed to know that all the time. Whenever I talked to a guy he wanted to know why and for whatever reason. I... I also wasn't myself when I was with him. It was as if he had a weird control over me, that he could force me to his will, and that I was wax in his hands. I lost myself during that time. Eventually, when I realized that and broke up, he lashed out. He pushed me and screamed at me and he wanted to touch me, but I punched back and literally threw him out."

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"It's... Don't be. It's just... I... Today this morning when I wanted to leave for the diner I saw Kevin through my window creeping in front of our house and watching me. I don't know if he's been stalking me only for a short period of time or longer. Today I waited a little and when he wouldn't leave, I escaped through the garden door. That's also the reason I'm late today."

"Doesn't that creep have school right now?"

Jessica laughed, "It's... It's not funny... Luke I wanted to warn you. Now that we're dating... you should know. He could come after you."

"I think I can take him." Luke had seen Kevin a few times at school. The boy was small, lean and quite skinny while Luke was a tall muscular quarterback.

"You... you don't understand me. He's dangerous. He has his ways of manipulating people to do as he pleases. And I don't want him anywhere near you Danny or Colleen but if he manages to creep up on you because you... because you mean as much to me as you do. Maybe it would be the best if you would leave me."

"I'm not leaving you because of a creepy possessive ex."

Jessica sighed "If he manages to reach you, then they should know."

Jessica and Luke looked through the window inside and saw Danny and Daisy laughing together.

"I... I just want them to be safe. After everything especially you and Danny have been through. So do me the favor and tell Danny will you? I'll tell Colleen the next time we see each other," she whispered

Luke nodded and pulled Jessica closer and in a tight hug.

"We... we can go in," Jessica whispered and pulled Luke after him.

Luke nodded and followed her back into the diner. Her words still echoing in his head. He had never seen Jessica like this. He had never seen her this scared. Gently he took her hand and squeezed it tightly. He was with her no matter who followed her around and stalked her. No matter how crazy that guy was, Luke would be with her. This was just another obstacle they had to face. And they would face it together.

"Hey, you lovebirds." Daisy greeted them while tilting her head suspiciously at Jess's frozen frown.

"Everything alright?" Danny asked with piercing blue eyes searching for Luke’s.

"It's..." Luke's gaze wandered towards Daisy, "We'll discuss it later."

"So, now that you are back, I can finally bring up the other good news I have in store."

Luke raised a brow, "There's more?"

"Well your girlfriend kinda interrupted," she shrugged and Luke could see Jessica roll her eyes.

"Shoot, then." Danny smiled excitedly. Damn he was such a puppy.

"Well, first things first, I'm not the only single on this table. We're all taken now."

"Matt?" Jess sighed.

"How did you--?"

"Oh come on!"

Daisy smiled "Yeah, Matt. I suppose it's very new... I mean we kinda started  _it_ a few hours ago yesterday evening."

"Congratulations." Luke smiled.

Danny grinned "I... I think you two will fit perfectly together."

"Thanks."

"Yeah if that is the big good news the other one should be a lot better or I'm really let down." Jessica muttered.

"Wow, rude." Daisy laughed.

"Jess." Danny whispered and shook his head in disbelief.

"What?"

Daisy cleared her throat, "Anyway, I think you guys will like the other news way more as it’s a little more relevant to you," she yawned and laughed, "But first I'll go to the bathroom."

"Oh come on," Jess rolled her eyes.

"Don't leave us hanging," Luke added.

"Okay, kidding. I overheard your conversation yesterday, and my Dad always wanted to adopt another kid. He thought about a younger boy or girl, but I talked to him and told him your story, Danny. Our house is kinda big. We don't know about the adoption, but... but if you want to you could be my foster brother."

"R... Really?" Danny asked as he jumped from the bench.

"Yes." Daisy managed to say before Danny squeezed the air out of her lungs as he hugged her over the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always: All the love for @Casy_Dee. <3


	17. Back at School

Everyday life was slowly starting to settle in once Danny moved into Mr. Coulson’s house; it all happened fast. Two days later, Luke's suspension was lifted due to the evidence the police uncovered. Willis was suspended for now, but not under arrest until trial.   
One could say that everything was the same as before, but in Luke's opinion it was even better. He and Claire got better along now. Somehow the tension had lifted after Luke got a girl (and a boy-) friend. Misty hung out with him, Jess, Danny, Colleen, Matt, and Daisy as well as a few of their friends. Luke and Danny had agreed to keep their relationship secret for now. People were aware of Danny dating Colleen, and Luke dating Jessica, they could do well without the confusion over how exactly the boys played into this relationship.

What Luke had to admit was that he missed the nights with Danny. Having him around had been soothing, but the less he saw him at home the more joy seeing him at school brought to him. Therefore it was no surprise that he couldn't help but hug him as he sat down next to him in the cafeteria one week after his move.

"Hey,” Danny grinned.

"Hey man. How've you been?" he gently tugged at his sleeve.

Danny quickly glanced around the crowded hall and exposed his wrists. The scars from a few days ago were still visible but nothing seemed to be really new. That Danny wouldn't stop the cutting out of the blue was clear. He had been diagnosed with PTSD and some form of depression. He was in therapy and taking meds and he was making slow improvements, but mental illness needed time to heal, or at least to weaken.

"I left the calendar at the locker so we have to pick it up later for the stickers.”

"No problem. We can stop there on the way to gym,” Luke help Danny's hand a little longer than necessary and judging by the smile on the blond boy’s lips, it didn't go unnoticed.

"You start training today?" Danny meet Luke’s eyes before he gently pulled his hand away. He was so beautiful.

"Yeah. Pop cleared me. I hope I can be more than backup,”

"I'm sure of that,” Danny gave him an encouraging smile.

Luke scanned the room for their friends but the search came up empty, "Where are the others?"

"Daisy said she wanted to meet Matt during the break, something about Physics and learning and stuff. Colleen told me that she might be late because she just had P.E. and likes to shower after that. And with the chilly temperatures outside, she wants to be certain that her hair is fully dried. Jess, Misty, and Claire are a your field of expertise.”

"I texted them, but they haven't answered... not yet anyway,”

"Word around school is that Claire has someone new.”

Luke laughed, "Since when do you give a shit about rumors.”

He shrugged "Fair point, and to be honest I don't really know.”

"See, I mean maybe it's true, maybe it's not. I'm waiting for Claire to tell me herself and why should I mind?"

Danny nodded and looked down at the ground, "Yeah,”

Luke smiled and turned around again to look for familiar faces. Maybe Colleen had arrived by now. He almost hadn't noticed the boy who was standing behind one of the outer tables, but once you saw him there was no way to un-see the intense stare and sparks of hatred in his eyes. Luke had almost forgotten about Kevin, and Jessica's warning. She hadn't mentioned him again, and the topic just left his mind in all of the events of the last few days. Quickly, Luke looked back at Danny, not sure if Kevin had noticed him noticing him creeping around.

"Danny, do you remember what I told you about Jess' ex a few days ago?"

Danny nodded but didn't stop shoveling his salad, "Creepy stalker guy, yeah. Why?"

"He's staring at us,”

"Where?" He put his fork down and looked around the cafeteria.

"Don't look!" Luke hissed.

Once Danny's eyes were back on the table and his salad Luke continued, "Behind us.”

Danny nodded and calmly continued before he whispered, "Is that really that bad? I mean everyone's gotta eat, even creepy stalker dudes, right?"

"He's staring at us,” Luke rolled his eyes. This was the first time he had really seen the boy looking at him this way. He had paid special attention ever since Jess' warning but never until today had he saw something confirming her suspicions of her ex being after Luke.

"Hmm…” Danny murmured. 

Luke couldn't really be angry at Danny for his disinterest. Back when Jess had warned him, he had been pretty calm about Kevin as well, but there was something in the way he had looked at him and Danny that had sent cold shivers down Luke's spine. Jess had said that there was something in the way Kevin was with people that was scary, and maybe now after seeing that gaze in person, Luke had no trouble believing her.

"Luke?" Danny raised a brow.

"What?"

"Are you listening to me?" There was some hurt in his voice.

"Uhmm sorry... I was somewhere else,”

"That's usually my thing,” Danny grinned his mood changed within seconds and turned around "This Kevin guy really has a-- Huh?"

"What? I told you not to stare,”

"I mean... I have seen Kevin only a few times but I'm sure he isn't here,”

"He was just there--" Luke turned around, screw being subtle, But Danny was right, Kevin wasn't there.

 

 

Colleen showed up a few moments later, the boys waited until she had finished her meal and slowly walked back towards their lockers.

"You think Coulson would allow me to come over?" Colleen asked all of the sudden.

"I mean he has no problem with Matt visiting Daisy and she's his little girl so I don't see why not.”

Luke shrugged and grinned, "Well Matt's blind and Daisy is a year older than you,” he ruffled Danny's hair.

"Funny,” Danny muttered but it was hard to miss his grin even though he tried to hide it.

"Besides, aren't you being kept prisoner in that orphanage anyway?"

"I didn't mean visiting him over the night, you perv,” Colleen laughed.

Luke shrugged, "Well then I don't think it will be a problem with Mr. Coulson,”

"Yeah,” Danny nodded "I was also thinking... maybe the four of us could go out, I mean officially as couples.”

"You mean like a double date?"

Colleen tilted her head, "Is it a double date if you two are also dating,”

Luke shrugged, "What else would you call it? A polydate?"

"I don't know, but I think of something else whenever I hear the word double date.”

Danny rolled his eyes, "Guys please don't turn this into a math session; I just took a test.”

"Okay... okay, but I like the idea,” Colleen smiled softly.

"Yeah,” Luke agreed, "I can't speak for Jess but I'll try my best to convince her of the idea.”

"Speaking of Jessica,” the three turned around.

Kevin.

"Yeah so what?" Luke answered calmly, despite a chilling fear rising in his body. He could see Danny try to step in front of Colleen, but she had none of it, and side stepped him, an arm on his back.

"She belongs to me.”

"She doesn't belong to anybody except herself,” Luke replied quietly.

Danny shoved himself in front of Luke after his attempt with Colleen had failed, "And in addition to that, I don't think you should bother her or Luke. Their relationship is between them and them alone,”

"Danny…” Luke laid a hand on his boyfriend's back

Kevin snorted, "Them alone? And you maybe? Jessica deserves someone who commits all of his time to her and not to someone else as well.”

"From what I heard, you wanted her to commit all of her time to you, and when it was the other way around, she wasn't okay with it. And look, I'm not the one to tell you to stay away from Jessica, because she sure as hell has already told you. But I promise you if you come after her or Danny or Colleen, you won't have to deal just with them individually, but also with me. So I'm gonna warn you, if you harass any of them again you… you will regret it,”

Kevin laughed and turned around before he walked away.

Luke blinked a few times, baffled by his own rage and bluntness, "I... I'm sorry,”

Danny shrugged "It's uhhmm, it's okay,”

Colleen took her boyfriend by the hand and pulled him after her, "We should go,”

"Jessica was right with what he told you though, he really is creepy in a way,” Danny whispered.

"Yeah.”

"Luke!" Luke rolled his eyes and turned around, he recognized the voice of Lance Hunter, a teammate from football. Where they ever gonna reach their lockers without being interrupted?

"Hey, Hunter. What is it?"

"Mate, we have a problem,”

Luke raised a brow asking for the other boy to continue.

"Mack just fell down the stairs. It seems as if he broke his leg,”

Shit. Mack was the only member left in their team who could play running back, even though that wasn't his specialty, all of the others were out injured as well. They had basically no one left now.

"Does Pop know already?" Luke sighed.

"He's getting told by now.”

"Do you need another player desperately?" Danny asked, "Because if not, maybe you can move the game? I'm sure the other team understands,”

Hunter looked at Danny as if he was speaking a foreign language. Luke actually had to smile at Danny's view on this cold world. He liked to see the good in people... still... he was kinda optimistic and that was admirable. Still the truth was, that the upcoming game was important. They couldn't just cancel it. If they tried, it would probably be a forfeit.

"We can't quit the game, Danny.” Luke smiled fondly and was happy that Hunter didn't comment on Danny's gullibility.

Colleen shrugged, "Bite the sour apple and have another player switch positions.”

"Yeah, but not sure if that will work at least somewhat decently.”

"Running back you said?" Danny smiled, "I'm pretty fast and can catch.”

"No,” Hunter said.

"Lance!" Luke said "He might have a point.”

"Could this work?" Colleen asked, "I mean doesn't he have to be listed somewhere or something?"

"Not in High School, no,” Luke nodded.

Hunter looked Danny up and down, a little skeptical. He was a good guy, but could be very ambitious, when he wasn't lazy. He was a weird, but nice guy, "You think this can work champ?"

"I've seen Danny in action. He isn't as weak as he might look,” Luke nodded.

Hunter sighed, and shook Danny's hand, "Well you'll have to train with us before the match, and of course actually the coach has the say in this, but as far as I'm concerned, welcome to the team!

"Thank you,” Danny smiled.

"You have time to join us right now?" Luke asked.

"I have a bit of a free pass for a while here at school so I guess.”

Luke smiled and turned towards Hunter, "We'll be at the gym in a few minutes,”

Hunter nodded and jogged away.

"You sure you are up to this?" Luke turned and asked Danny.

"Yeah. I mean I guess I think I am, I have stuff from P.E in my locker, I'll go to the restroom then we can get it okay?"

Colleen gave Danny a quick peck on the lips, "I have to go to my room now. You guys have fun okay?"

Danny smiled and took his girlfriend's hands, "And I'll ask Phil if you can visit me tomorrow after school.”

"I'd like that…” Colleen smiled softly and let go of Danny's hands as he headed for the restroom.

She waited for the door to fall shut before she turned towards Luke, "You take care of him okay?"

Luke shrugged, "What do you mean?"

"The practice,”

"If he gets injured it isn't--"

Colleen shook her head, "Not that... not so long ago Danny was the No.1 bullying victim of this school. He may be in a better place now, but the past is the past and it can't be changed. It's just... you're dragging him right into the belly of the beast. I mean no offense, but the football team isn't known for protecting those who are weaker or have a lower standing,”

"You saw that he wanted to volunteer.”

"I'm not mad or anything. I saw the glow in his eyes. He wanted this, but Luke just protect him from the others and maybe even himself okay?"

Luke nodded, "I'm gonna protect our boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee is officially the best beta <3


	18. You & Me

 After they stopped at their lockers, Luke led Danny towards the gym.

He knew that some members of his football team had more or less actively bullied Danny before and even after his suicide attempt. Colleen's worries were just, and he felt bad for dragging Danny into this. On the other hand, he really wanted this and Luke wasn't forcing him into anything. The moment Danny wanted out, Luke would escort him out of the gym and maybe give him a kiss in an unwatched corner to cheer him up. Yes, by joining the team Danny was making himself vulnerable, but denying him to join the team because of his past would just continue his time as an outcast even if Luke wanted to protect him. He could just remain loyal to him and help him through any eventual trouble, what a boyfriend should do for his S.O.

_Boyfriend._

Luke really liked to think of Danny as that. He had a boy and a girlfriend now. The thought made him smile. He could not only call one amazing person his significant other, but instead two.

"What are you thinking of?" Danny asked as he stopped walking.

"Huh?"

Danny grinned, "You are smiling like an idiot,”

"I am?"

The blond boy nodded, "So?"

"You, Jess, Us.”

"I like that... that I make you smile.”

Luke wished that the hallway wasn't as crowded as it was right now. He wanted to be close to Danny, kiss him, hold him, or maybe even just hold his hand.

"I hope the same goes for me and Colleen with you,” Luke grinned before he lowered his voice, "Because I love your smile,”

"Of course it does.”

Part of Luke knew that this was kind of a honeymoon phase. There would be fights and drama and stressful situations. Who knew? Maybe their relationship would end after the first fight. The four of them were so different and bound for conflict, but that shouldn't stop him now. Now he just wanted to be happy and spend as much time with his boy and girlfriend as possible.

"That's good to hear.”

Luke wanted to say more but then he saw Pop on the hallway in front of him, "Uhm... Danny, I need to talk to the coach can you go ahead... or wait here?"

Danny nodded, "I'll...I'll just go,”

"Thanks,” Luke gave him a smile and jogged towards his coach.

"Hey... Pop.”

"Luke, good to have you back, but we have a problem. Mack's out.”

"He's what?" Luke could see Pop's shock in his eyes.

"Hunter told me that he fell down the stairs.” Luke flinched. "He's alright but won't be able to play for us for quite some time.”

"Why didn't Hunter come to me?"

Good question.

"Maybe he couldn't find you,” Luke ran a hand over his shaven head.

Pop sighed and let his head fall back "I need to find a replacement then.”

"I, uhm, actually have invited someone to practice today…” Luke stuttered.

"Who?"

"Uhhm, Danny Rand,” Luke smiled sheepishly.

Pop's face was something between surprise and skepticism, "Boy, I don't thin--"

"Listen, he said that he wants to do this, and I know that he is fast and strong. I'm also sure that he can play well within a team.”

"And you trust him?"

_No question for Luke._

"Yes,” of course he trusted Danny. He is good a good kid with a lot of heart and he isn't really the type of boy who would join the team if he couldn't really help them. Not like others who would go in just for fame and popularity. Not that he didn't need a bit more popularity at school but he wouldn't endanger the future of others for that.

Pop sighed, "Well I don't want to be the one denying any kid any chance, so just make sure that he'll be there on time.”

"Of course. And thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

"You should have seen him," Luke laughed as he laid on his bed the same day.

"This good?" Jess asked scrolling through her phone as she petted Luke's head.

"Pretty good. You can see that he doesn't know our plays and isn't really close to any of the other players. I mean, even the best players can't work at their top level in an unfamiliar environment.”

"Luke. Get to the point!"

"But talent wise, Danny's good. We can defiantly work with him,”

"Bet Pop was happy.”

"Yeah,” Luke laughed, "Oh and Danny also suggested we meet Colleen and you on a date. You know? All four of us together,”

"Ugh. I don't like dating and dating with more people. Ugh.”

"I expected that, but he would be so happy. Please just this once, and if you don't like it, we won't do it again.”

"Fine, but I'm gonna bring booze.”

"No problem, and thank you.”

Jessica smiled, and looked away from her phone, "Is that why you invited me here? To talk about your boyfriend?"

"No...No. Actually,” Luke sat up and gently placed a hand on Jess' thigh, "My parents aren't home and--"

"I'm already sold,” Jessica answered before she shut Luke up with a kiss. Luke could taste some beer in her breath, maybe even a bit of smoke. Her hands were small but were wild and rough when they ran up and down over his chest. Like on the first night they slept together, Luke tried to treat her gently. He tried to be the opposite of her storm, but soon she dragged him along. Like in the first night, Jessica liked control. She liked it rough and Luke didn't mind obeying. He was sure that part of his shirt was ripped when she pulled it off him and threw it in the same corner where her top had landed earlier.  
Somewhere where Danny had his bed a few days ago.

 

* * *

 

 

> _"Jessica deserves someone who commits all of his time to her and not to someone else as well.”_

 

"Shit,” he pulled away and caught his breath. He was so damn exhausted after this little time while Jess looked completely unsettled, her face a bit flustered, and her lips pink, but apart from that, nothing.

She frowned "You're kidding me.”

"What?"

"Not ye--"

"Oh no!" Luke laughed "No.”

"Then wh--"

"Jess,” he fell back into his serious tone, " Do you... are you okay with Danny and me?"

"I kinda proposed that shit so yeah, of course. Sure I am,”

"Because I don't want you to feel less of... value... I don't know,”

Jessica pulled back and sat back up on the bed, "Why should I? Him and you don't affect you and me. I mean, besides that, I got something out of the deal as well. I have a free pass. What girl doesn't want that? It's a damn dream.”

Luke laughed a little "It's just--"

This time she was the one interrupting him, "Did you think of him while you were kissing me, touching me?" She smiled, "While I was touching you? Because I don't really mind... I mean, being mistaken for a boy in bed is weird, but whatever. Have you guys done it by the way?"

"No! And no. I was thinking of Kevin,”

_Uhh phrasing._

"Wait, what?" Jessica froze and sat up straight. She looked so vulnerable like this... in her simple black sports bra over her pale skin.

"I... I... uhm…” Luke tried to speak as softly as possible, "He... he approached me at school today. He said that you deserve someone who's fully committed to you and the relationship and he had me thinking. I mean you deserve more,”

She buried her head in her hands, "This is exactly what he does and what I warned you about. He is fucking good at this. He gets in your head. All I can say is that I don't want a boyfriend who's secretly crushing on someone behind my back. I'm happy with you being happy with him too, I mean, you don't cheat on me, and this is what it's about.”

"But what about a boyfriend who's completely faithful to you? About someone who only has eyes for you?”

"I don't think that exists.”

"That doesn't mean that you don't deserve a boy like that.”

Jessica sighed, "But I chose you! Look I'm a person with  _my own free will_. I can leave you any time I want and _I chose_  to do this. I don't care what _I deserve_ I care about what  _I choose_  and what I want!"

"Okay,” Luke smiled and kissed her gently before he got pushed back down onto the bed.

 

* * *

 

 

Luke smiled as Danny's eyes met his as he walked onto the football field. It was early in the morning on a Saturday; thankfully Pop had given him the key to the field to train with Danny over the weekend. Luke didn't mind the practice, he enjoyed spending time with Danny and he would profit from the training as well. It was an absolute win-win situation.   
Luke just hoped that he didn’t wake up Jessica this morning. On the other hand, the woman seemed to have a hella a deep sleep.

"Hey,” Danny smiled.

"Hi. The jersey suits you.” Luke wasn't lying. Danny looked really good in the shirt and yes, also the pants. Damn, he had just spent the night with Jess he shouldn't be  _this_  focused on Danny-- Danny's body right now.

The helmet couldn't cover Danny's shy smile and his blush, "Ughmm... thank you. Although I think you've heard that before,”

"I have, but I'm sure it has never sounded  _this_  good,”

_Luke for fucks sake stop the flirting and train._

Danny grinned and sat down on the seats on the stands, "So... I've looked at the plays you've given me…” he pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack.

"Lemme see,” Luke said, and gestured for Danny to take off his helmet.

  
He had to smile at the blond curls being all messed from the helmet. They were messy and wild as they jumped in the dim morning light.

"Here,” Danny handed him the snippet, "It's about this play.”

While he took the paper, Luke noticed how cold Danny's skin was, "How long have you been here?"

Danny shrugged and shifted a little closer towards Luke, "I don't know. I warmed up and stretched. I didn’t sleep well, anyway.”

"Do you have a jacket with you?"

"I remembered it when I was already halfway here, and didn't wanna turn around.”

Luke sighed, "Danny.”

"I know, I'm sorry,”

Luke rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his jacket before he gently placed it over Danny's shoulders, "Better?"

"Hm.”

"Now your wrists.”

Danny laughed "Oh yeah... uhm... right. Didn't think of taking my calendar with me, sorry.”

"It's okay, still gotta check, so show me the wrist,” Luke smiled gently.

"Sure,” Danny rolled the bandages he had already worn during their first practice up. Something about the fact that Danny had to hide the scars... Or thought he had to sent a shiver down Luke's spine. He shouldn't really. There was nothing to be ashamed of, and besides, everyone at school kinda knew what he was covering up.

Slowly, Luke traced the scars on the pale skin. There weren't any new ones, yet he was morbidly amazed at how visible they were. Not to get him wrong, they were terrible and reminders of a terrible time for Danny. Who knew how long these ghosts would continue to haunt him, but in a way it was fascinating to see how sometimes not only your mind but also your body couldn't recover completely from abuse. The scars weren't as red and angry as Luke remembered them from when they were fresh, but some of them sure as hell were there to stay and would never fade.

"I'll give you the sticker another time,” Luke whispered absently.

"Luke? Is everything alright,”

"Hmm,” Luke couldn't resist the urge to lift Danny's wrist towards his lips and kiss the scars. He liked to imagine that he could kiss the pain away that it needed nothing but the touch of his lips on Danny's skin to make his terrible past undone.

He was a bit surprised that Danny was the one to lift up Luke's head and pull him into an actual kiss. Despite the pads that were part of the uniform, Luke was sure that he could feel Danny through all of the fabric as he pulled him closer and closer.

Weirdly, Danny didn't kiss like Danny. Today he kissed more like Jess, demanding and passionate, not as rough but with a similar urge to just feel Luke. His hands were slowly running down Luke's back and settling on his ass.

  
_Good idea_. Luke smiled into the kiss and made the same move to pull Danny closer and closer. Danny's ass felt amazing, just as he had imagined.

_Thank you football tights._

Thinking of. They should stop this before any of them got a boner. They were alone out here, but it would still be awkward and even if Danny would want it, of which Luke was somehow sure wasn't the case here, they wouldn't fuck on a football field in public.

Breathing heavily Luke pulled apart and looked at his panting boyfriend, "So... uhm... What did you want to say about the plays?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Casy_Dee <3


	19. Leverage

 

 

 "You can't really say that...” Jess muttered under her breath as Luke entered the school with her.

"I just mean it's still a good movie,” Danny shrugged.

"It was garbage. Luke?"

Luke rolled his eyes, "Why would you care, Jess hates it and Danny likes it. That's totally fine, no one's forcing you to rewatch or keeping you from rewatching it."

"We want to reach a consensus here,” Jessica explained.

"If you want a consensus you gotta ask Colleen too, and I know that she liked it."

Jess grinned, "Well how convenient that your girlfriend isn't here currently. Luke?"

Why did she pull him into this? Okay this was a stupid question considering that this was Jessica... The answer would be simple.  _For fun_.

"You're both idiots?" He offered.

"Do you mean regarding the movie oooor..."

"Jess!" Luke sighed, "Just stop."

"Okay...okay. Hey what is going on with Ron Weasley over there?"

"Oh shit.” Danny froze as he saw Chris and Luke instinctively pushed himself in front of his boyfriend.

Christopher was standing surrounded by his followers, laughing at something on his phone. The moment Luke spotted him, he saw Hernan in the crowd pointing at him, Jess, and Danny. Suddenly, all eyes were on them and the laughter grew louder. Luke wasn't sure what was happening, but he didn't like it a bit.

"Look over there the lovebirds, and hey Jessica!" Hernan grinned.

"Always knew it with you Rand, but didn't expect it with Cage."

Luke could feel Danny shaking with anger behind him. Whatever was going on here he should hold him back. This wasn't worth the trouble.

"What do you mean?" Jessica was the one to ask. Her voice was somewhere between chillingly scary and deeply annoyed.

"That you did well covering for them.” Hernan grinned as he stepped forward.

Luke slowly stepped forward, "What the hell are you saying?"

Hernan grinned and raised his phone; it showed a picture. Luke needed to blink a few times as it was fairly dark and a bit blurred and grainy, yet the gist was clear. The picture had been taken yesterday from underneath the football field's stands. It showed Danny and Luke during their kiss, Luke's hand under Danny's shirt, and Danny's hand on Luke's thigh. There was no way to explain that other than with the truth.

"Why did you spy on us?" Danny asked, slowly stepping out from behind Luke.

"I didn't take those pictures, dummy."

"Say that again, and I'll punch the stupid sunglasses off of your face!" Jessica growled.

Luke turned around to see Danny being incredibly surprised at Jess' outburst.

"Who took them, then?" Luke asked.

Hernan giggled and looked down at his screen.

"Are you fucking deaf?!" Jessica pulled him up by his sleeves, "Who took them?"

Luke could see that Hernan was scared of her and tried to downplay it with a pathetic giggle, "Alright, alright... Funny story. Your Ex."

"Kevin!?"

Hernan had used Jessica's moment of distraction to fall back and slowly distance himself from the group. 

"Why would he--" she started.

"To ruin whatever it is we have, our relationship, I don't know.” Luke shrugged and made sure to cover Danny again.

"What would that accomplish for him, and how is this supposed to sabotage our relationship?"

"I don't know, Jess. It doesn't have to make sense to me, only for your manipulative creepy stalker ex."

"Are you blaming me?"

"What, no?!"

"It's my fault...” Danny whispered.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Please not that again."

"It is. I started the kiss."

"Danny, stop. The stalking picture is no one's fault except for the stalker. And I don't think we should discuss this here... Text Colleen and we'll all talk after school."

 

* * *

 

 

 "It could have been worse,” Colleen muttered as she reached the small group that consisted of Jess, Danny, and Luke. It was lunchtime and they had assembled outside of school on a bench.

"You know what this is about?" Danny looked up at her as she took his hand.

"The whole school got the picture.” Colleen smiled sheepishly and sat down next to her boyfriend.

Oh this was just great, although Luke had expected something like this. Nearly every other student had looked at him differently than they had before today. In the cafeteria and in the halls, basically everywhere, he had been stared at like a caged animal in a fucking zoo.

"Well except for us, seemingly...” Jessica muttered.

Luke nodded, "And what do you mean with 'It could be worse' ?"

"I mean this is just a picture of a kiss. No one is hurt and in any kind of danger of going to prison or shit. I'd call that a win."

Jess shrugged, "She's got a point. After the last few weeks this is nothing."

"The whole school knows."

"So?" Colleen sighed and tilted her head.

"I... I don't know... it's just...” Luke stuttered; it was hard to put in words.

"You don't want people to know you're bi. I get that and I get that it sucks for you to have it out in the open. To be outed like this, but we can't change it now. All I'm saying is that this is not the end of the world. I mean, everything will remain the same, maybe in the beginning people will make stupid remarks, but you are still the star of our football team you are still quite popular, not like Rogers or Stark, but who wants that?"

"She does have a point.” Danny agreed, "I mean no matter what. You have us, Daisy, Matt, and I'm sure you have Claire and Misty too... same with Daisy's and Matt's other friends. Hernan and Chris will shut up eventually. What sucks is the way it was made public, and maybe that it happened now, this early, but apart from that we can do this."

Luke sighed. They were right. It was one thing to be outed as an outsider or misfit, but he had enough credit with his fellow students to get through this, and knowing that Danny was his boyfriend, he would be left alone by most eventually as well. He could have done well without the school knowing, but on the bright side, he and Danny no longer had to hide. He could hold his hand, sit closer to him than best friends would normally do, and maybe even take him to prom if Jessica didn't want to go with him… which he was sure of.

"One problem remains...” Jessica continued, "Kevin. He shouldn't have done this."

"It's okay Jess,” Luke tried to calm her.

"No it's not. He was stalking you. He has  _no_ right to do that."

"It's not like he hurt us,” Danny offered.

"Yeah well, he could have. Not physically, but he's smart. He could have tried to talk you into believing stuff about each other or, I don't know. He can't just do that."

"She's right with that,” Colleen muttered.

"Isn't that like a crime or something?" Danny tilted his head, "Maybe I can ask Daisy to ask Matt or something. I'm sure he knows."

Luke sighed, "That doesn't really matter. I mean we could tell Fury, and it would sure as hell be enough to warrant consequences, but that wouldn't protect us from him outside of school."

"And no one likes people who run to the teachers for every possible cause,” Jessica sighed.

Danny bit his lips, "What if we scare  _him_  of  _us_?"

"We aren't beating him up.” Luke shook his head.

"I didn't mean that."

"Thank God,” Colleen sighed.

"I mean, Jessica when you dumped him you broke his heart. And he doesn't want to attack you because he still feels for you. That is a weakness for him, like a pressure point is the weakness of a fighter. There has to be a way to use it against him."

"Danny... Danny... Danny. Do you want me to blackmail or threaten poor Kevin?"

Danny laughed and shook his head, "I wouldn't put it that way."

"But I think he means it." Colleen grinned, "I like the way you think though."

"Threatening people?" Luke laughed.

"No, using his one obvious weakness."

Jessica nodded, "I'm ready to take one for the team and talk to him, but we need a concrete plan."

"I mean, what do we want?" Luke shrugged.

"For him to leave us alone,” Danny offered.

Luke nodded, "Why not go with that."

" ' _Hey Kevin leave me and my friends alone... or...?'_   What then? I don't want to have anything to do with him, anyway."

"Maybe you could just say that otherwise there is no chance you will ever get together anymore, and lie about a possibility still being there,” Luke suggested.

"The thought alone makes me want to throw up, but yeah, might work. I want to threaten him with beating the shit out of him as well, though."

"Hey your psycho-ex, your rules,” Colleen grinned.

"Good. I'll talk to him tomorrow early in the morning at school."

"Speaking of,” Danny started, "Daisy and Matt are having a movie night tomorrow."

"How?" Jessica asked.

"He can still listen to the dialogue. Anyway, she was asking me to invite you guys and I thought why not?"

"I can tell you why--"

"Jess.” Luke sighed, "Please."

"Okay, as long as they don't turn the audio description on."

"Nice.” Colleen smiled and Luke gave Danny a nod, "I'll be there."

"Is Coulson-- your Dad there?" Colleen asked, after a moment of silence. The fear of meeting Danny's father was written in her eyes.

"No, he's working nightshift, why?"

_Danny, please._

"Just curious..."

"Okay see you losers tomorrow then.” Jessica got up and gave Luke a quick kiss.

"C ya."

 

* * *

 

 

 Coming to school the next day was weird. People were staring at Luke differently as he and Danny walked side by side. Like they were the new kids, and the most interesting thing at school. It was obvious that things weren't necessarily the same anymore. Luke had already realized yesterday evening that he didn't care that much. He just wanted to protect Danny from the other kids. Soon enough, they would get behind what was going on between them and Colleen and Jess. Like when he would kiss Jess next to Danny or something. What he was still certain of was that he wanted to prevent people from picking on Danny again.

"Do you think what Jess is doing will work?"

Luke shrugged as he tried to shoo some of his fellow students away with his glares. "I hope so and if not... screw him. I mean, I'm not leaving Jess, and even if I would, he would quickly realize what she really thinks about him."

"You won't leave me either, right?"

"Why the hell would I want to do that? Kevin doesn't care about us."

"He's the only one then...” Danny looked at the other students whispering to each other, "And I wasn't talking about Kevin... I mean you were one of the most popular kids at school someone like you shouldn't be with a loser like me. I can understand it if you leave me and--"

Luke just wanted Danny stop thinking such bullshit. Kissing him on the mouth seemed to be the best way. Just kiss the stupid bullshit out of him. He didn't care about the whole school watching and maybe even taking new pictures. So fucking what? He held Danny tight as he kissed him deeper and more passionately than he had ever kissed anyone in public or at school. He wanted the whole world to know that Danny was his and he was Danny's... well partially.

It took a firm grip on Luke's shoulder to let go of Danny and pull them apart.

"Mr. Cage, Mr. Rand, this is still a school and not a nightclub. You know what the school rules say about kissing on school property."

Luke turned around and looked at Ms. Hill "Yeah, sure. Sorry ma'am."

"I'm just gonna pretend that this never happened, and spare you the detention if you promise that I won't catch you again?"

"Yes, ma'am,” The boys answered in unison.

They turned around to watch the vice principal walk away.

When Luke looked back to Danny, he had a stupid grin on his face.

"What?" Luke asked.

"I'm just so happy that I have you."

"Same."

Slowly, Luke remembered the other students. He didn't care about them. All he cared about was Danny and Jessica.

Gently, he offered Danny his hand, and pulled him along to see his girlfriend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Casy_Dee = <3


	20. Date Night

When Luke arrived at the Coulson's house it was already dark. Luckily it was already Friday and Daisy had even hinted at them being allowed to stay for the night. Phil, Daisy, and Danny were living in a nice little neighborhood in the suburbs. The house wasn't big, but it had enough room for a man and two teenagers. A small garden and a garage were there as well as a nice porch. The house was painted in a soft pastel blue, the windows were framed with white wood, and a big maple tree was planted in front of the house.

As he rang the bell, Daisy waved in Luke, "Hey there."

"Hey. Are Jess, Matt, and Colleen already there?"

Daisy nodded, "Yeah... well except for Jess you're late."

"Man, I hope she actually turns up. And sorry I wasn't there earlier... the bus."

"No problem, come on in." Daisy stepped aside and let him in.

"Hey!" Danny rushed towards him and wrapped his arms and legs around Luke's body.

Daisy laughed, "Whoah get a room you two."

Luke laughed and held his boyfriend tight against his chest, "Don't tell me you're surprised that I actually turned up.

"No. No. It's just... You never visited me before at home and it makes me so happy."

"Colleen got the same treatment." Matt commented as he followed after Danny.

"Yep, and I had less problems with his weight than you're having."

"Hey Colleen, hey Matt. Danny is pretty heavy though."

"I hope so. We're training together and anything else would be an insult," Colleen grinned.

Daisy laughed, "Do you want a beer?"

Luke grinned sarcastically, "Oh no, Daisy giving out alcohol to minors."

"Shut up."

"And his girlfriend isn't even here yet." Matt smirked.

"Right. I hope you also have whiskey in here."

"I'm sure Dad has some stored away somewhere." Daisy grinned as she led Luke to the living room.

The Coulson's living room was stylishly furnished. Dark wooden floors with trendy furniture, a big red sofa, and a white fluffy carpet. And of course, a huge flat screen TV on the wall. 

"Looks nice." Luke smiled.

"You should see the furniture Mr. Coulson bought me for my room," Danny beamed.

Luke could see Daisy chuckle at her little brother's comment out of his periphery.

"You are so cute," Colleen grinned and pulled Danny down into her lap as she sat down.

Luke joined the two on the sofa while Daisy and Matt settled down in a red armchair. Matt held his girlfriend in his arms as she sat in his lap.

"I agree," Luke grinned.

"Man, I would love to start already but... it would be mean without Jess." Danny sighed.

"Yeah, thank you very much Jessica," Matt muttered jokingly.

"Be careful, babe. She has no problem with punching a blind guy."

"That's true." Luke laughed.

Colleen pulled Danny a little further into her lap, "I think we should start if she doesn't turn up in like thirty minutes."

"I bet she doesn't even care if we start as long as we don't touch her booze," Luke added.

Danny grinned and pulled Luke closer, "True."

Luke took the offer and snuggled his head up against his boyfriend's chest. He was so warm and smelled so damn good it wasn't really fair.

"You two are really cute," Colleen smiled and petted Danny's and then Luke's head.

"Same to you," he smiled back.

 "Ugh, I can't even see you and you three make me want to throw up," Matt laughed.

That moment the doorbell rang.

"Thank God I don't think Jess will have any of your sappy flirting." Daisy smiled as she jumped from the couch.

Luke wasn't really sure if he should get up to greet Jess. He was sure that she wouldn't mind him waiting here and being snuggled up against Danny. He decided to wait until Jess walked into the room offered him one of her rare smiles and settled down next to Luke reaching for his hand. He squeezed it a little and leaned in to whisper into her ear, "How did the bargaining with Kevin go?"

"I don't think he'll bother you anymore. I tried to tell him that we wouldn't be a thing otherwise ,then he wanted to kiss me and I punched him to hell and back."

"Jess."

"What? He had it coming. Point is he's hella scared now."

Luke sighed and leaned a little back against Danny, "So what are we gonna watch?"

"You mean watch and listen?"

"Jess." Daisy hissed but Matt didn't seem to mind and chuckled quietly.

"Oh come on, see he thinks it's funny."

Daisy shrugged, "Setting aside the rudeness, it wasn't even funny. But to answer Luke's question, we can choose from Netflix and Dad's DVD collection."

"Star Wars," Colleen stated.

"Is it even on Netflix?" Matt asked.

Colleen shrugged, "Doesn't matter because he has it on DVD."

"How do you know?" Danny asked.

"Because it's Star Wars, honey. Of course he has it on DVD."

"So Star Wars episode seven or Rogue One maybe, I mean I guess we all have seen episodes four to six often enough?"

"You can't see them often enough. But I'm okay with your suggestions," Luke answered.

Colleen tilted her head, "Episode seven please. I don't want to cry in front of you guys so Rogue One's out."

"Any objections?" Daisy asked as she shuffled through her Dad's DVD's.

Luke looked around the room and saw nothing but nods.

"Episode Seven it is. Maybe we can watch Stranger Things or something after."

 

 

* * *

 

 

The evening didn't really turn out to be the binge session they had expected it to be. After the movie they just settled for talking and just when they wanted to start Netflix Jessica had another idea.

"Why not play a game?"

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"I mean like a party/drinking game."

"I'm not sure if this is a great idea. Luke commented.

"It's a great idea." Jess grinned.

Daisy got up to retrieve the DVD from the player, "I'm with Luke on this."

"Oh come on. You're all just scared."

Luke sighed and looked over at Danny where he and Colleen were laying on the couch tightly wrapped around each other. He had Jessica leaning up against his chest and during the movie Daisy had spent the whole time in Matt's lap "What is so wrong with Netflix."

Jess and Daisy giggled.

"I mean watching Netflix, Jesus."

"Come on Luke, what's the worst that could happen to you? Someone asking you to kiss Danny?"

"Uhhmm... I'm right here."

"You know what I meant." Jessica rolled her eyes.

Colleen grinned, "Yeah you're a great kisser."

"I'm not gonna ask Luke who of us is the better kisser." Jessica smiled.

"Thank you."

"I might during a session of truth or dare though."

Luke sighed, "Didn't you want to convince me to play with you because you are doing a horrible job."

"I wouldn't mind playing," Matt offered.

"See ,and he can't even see the embarrassing shit you're doing then."

"Maybe that's why..." Colleen muttered.

"I've never seen you this passionate about anything," Danny commented.

"Yeah well, where do you think I know stuff about everyone from school from?"

Daisy laughed "Truth or Dare really?"

"Partially. Go to a party with lame people and since you're the only one who can deal with liquor you're also the only one remembering shit."

"Are you still trying to convince us to play with you? Because as Luke said: You're not doing well with that plan."

She sighed "I just thought it would be fun but fine..."

"Thank you."

"You're all boring."

"I don't mind," Danny shrugged.

"Wait!" Daisy whispered, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Colleen asked.

"Shhhh!" Matt hissed.

All of the sudden Luke was high on adrenaline. He stood up, shielding Danny, Colleen, and Jess.

There was some weird sound. A banging noise coming from the terrace.

"Shit," Matt whispered.

Jessica, Danny, and Colleen slowly stepped out of Luke's cover while Daisy vanished to the hallway gesturing for them to remain there.

"What the hell?"

"Just wait for me." Daisy's voice came from the hallway barely audible.

Luke obeyed and waited, his gaze fixed on the door until he caught Daisy's movements in his peripheral vison. She was holding a baseball bat and was ready to attack.

"Nice," Jess whispered.

"Dad keeps it in the hallway for emergencies."

Slowly Daisy opened the blinds in front of the terrace door she was perched in front of the others and the darkness made it hard for Luke to see the outside.

"We are idiots," she commented dryly letting the bat drop to the floor.

"What is it?" Colleen hissed.

Daisy grinned, "Wind. Fucking wind. It knocked some pots on the terrace over."

"Wow," Jess sighed.

"And we didn't even watch a horror movie," Danny grinned.

"Look at us being brave and shit," Matt smirked.

"Looks pretty bad tho." Daisy muttered.

"What?"

"Outside. We must have missed the storm coming up because of the movie."

"Did anyone of you hear any warnings in the news?" Danny asked.

All of them shock their heads.

"Must have been fairly spontaneous then," Daisy shrugged.

Someone's phone rang. It was some sort of acoustic melody Luke didn't recognize. Luke looked around a little before he realized that it seemed to be Daisy's, judging by the way she reacted and started to search for it.

Daisy raised a hand as she answered, "Hey Dad."

"Yeah... yeah."

"We noticed."

"Ooookay..."

"I mean cool, I'll ask them."

"Yeah... yeah..."

"See you tomorrow," she hung up and looked at the group.

"So... our Dad called," Luke didn't miss Danny's smile while Daisy called Coulson  _their_  Dad.

"And he said that apparently the storm has messed up a lot of shit in the city. In some parts electricity and telephones are down. He told me that it would be irresponsible to send you guys home in such a weather. You can stay the night if you want to."

"That's great. I'd totally be down with that." Luke smiled.

"Are your parents okay with that?" Danny asked.

"I'm eighteen so screw them."

"Same." Jess grinned, "And this is my chance for a foursome."

"Jessica."

"I can also stay," Matt smiled.

"Yeah, Dad didn't want you to sleep in my room. But he isn't here sooooo..." Daisy smiled.

Colleen sighed, "Well you guys have fun while I go home through the storm."

"Can't you just call and ask?" Daisy suggested.

"I don't think it will work but I'll try."

Danny gave his girlfriend a gentle pat on the back as she distanced herself from the group to make the phone call, "But what is it with the sleeping... I mean we don't all fit into our bedrooms?"

"We could carry the mattresses down here into the living room and all sleep here. It will be fun." Daisy suggested.

"Sounds like a nice idea," Matt smiled.

"Thank you so much!" Colleen almost screamed before she turned around with a bright grin on her face and quit the call, "My orphanage called and said that it would be irresponsible to have me come home during this kind of weather so I'll stay."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Luke woke up sometime late at night from something else being knocked over outside. Carefully he sat up and looked around the dark room. It took his eyes a while to adjust to the darkness and see the sleeping silhouettes of his friends. Daisy and Matt were snuggled up on the couch wrapped in a fluffy blanket with Matt wearing some of Danny's clothes to sleep in.

  
Next to him, Jessica was softly snoring with one hand on his chest and her face pressed against his skin. On the other side Danny's back was closely pressed against him while he was curled around Colleen.

  
No one else seemed to be awake and Luke's rapidly racing pulse set a bit as he laid back down.

"You okay?" He heard Colleen's voice slowly whisper in the dark. She didn't dare to move, most likely because she was scared to wake Danny.

"Yes," he smiled, and gently ran a hand down Danny's back while he held Jessica's hand where it settled on his chest.

She laughed quietly, "Me too. To be honest, I never thought that I could be this happy."

Luke took in the scent of the junk food they had pulled out of the freezer earlier, as well as the smell of booze, and Danny, Jess, and the others. He couldn't help but smile. This was nice this was great, "Me neither.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All say a huge Thank you for @Casy_Dee <3
> 
> So, this is it, thank you, for all the comments and nice words. <3  
> Maybe, there will be a Sequel with the gang at College, but it isn't a hundred percent sure, yet.  
> Anyway, I hope you lied the story :)


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